Cedarville, Ohio Valley Settle for 1-1 Draw

By Joshua Decker

The Cedarville Yellow Jackets battled to a 1-1 draw Thursday night, rallying back from one goal down against the visiting Ohio Valley Fighting Scots. After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, and nearly conceding again before halftime, the Yellow Jackets were able to salvage a point following the conversion of a penalty kick in the second half.

The first half was defined by Ohio Valley’s crisp passing and technical play. Cedarville, however, was unable to string together good passes in the attacking third of the field, despite playing a solid first half. 

Head coach Brett Faro, in response to Cedarville’s first 45 minutes of play stated, “I thought we kind of just struggled to get into our rhythm and our flow.”

Cedarville conceded the first goal of the game in the 26th minute, but survived going down 2-0 before the half when Ohio Valley ripped a shot off of the post to keep the Fighting Scots off of the scoreboard for a second time.

Following the midpoint break of the game, Cedarville proved to be a formidable side by putting together a respectable second half, despite being largely outshot in the game 21-6, as well as conceding a total of 10 corner kicks in the game. Comparatively, the Yellow Jackets managed only 5 corner kicks in 120 minutes of action.

The Yellow Jacket’s golden opportunity came in the 57th minute when Ohio Valley conceded a penalty kick after bringing down a Yellow Jacket in the box. Sophomore forward Mauricio Ochoa Vazquez calmly delivered the goal into the back of the net for his team, putting Cedarville on the scoreboard for the first time in the game, and leveling the score at one goal apiece.

Following the conclusion of the 90 minutes, neither side was able to deliver a fatal blow in 20 minutes of overtime.

“I think we showed good determination and good grit and come back from one down, which is always a positive.” said senior defender Zac Muir.

Thursday night’s result is already the fourth draw this season, and ties the school record for draws in a season.

“Our focus is how can we keep getting a little bit better every day.” said Faro.

The Yellow Jackets (3-1-4) will face off against Alderson Broaddus Saturday at 4:30 p.m. for Homecoming.