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By Michael Beaven
Special to the Beacon Journal
POSTED: 10:04 p.m. EST, Nov 03, 2009
RAVENNA: Senior Greg Marchand made his presence felt on both ends of the field Tuesday night for the Jackson soccer team.
Marchand's skill set and shoe choice were quite noticeable in a 3-0 victory over Green in a Division I regional semifinal game on Gilcrest Field at Ravenna Stadium. Marchand scored two goals and was a key defender for the Polar Bears.
Jackson (19-1-0) advances to play Cleveland St. Ignatius in a Division I regional final Saturday at 3 p.m. at Rocky River. St. Ignatius defeated Mayfield 1-0 Tuesday night at Rocky River.
Polar Bears coach Michael Biros said he is constantly impressed by Marchand's play at both ends of the field.
''He is a wall back there,'' Biros said. ''He has his players organized in front.
''Those were his seventh and eighth goals of the year. He comes up on our set pieces and he is very good in the air.''
The Polar Bears posted their 15th shutout of the season with Marchand, seniors Chris Angelo, Brock Emrick and Brian Zilla and juniors Joey Dennis and Ben Clark playing a key role in the back.
''We haven't give up one goal in these playoffs,'' said Marchand, who wore distinctive bright blue shoes to go with his white uniform and shorts that featured yellow and purple mixed in. ''That is something we have to keep up.''
Marchand's first goal came with 26:37 remaining in the first half. Junior Danny Baraldi gave Jackson a 2-0 lead when he scored a goal with 36:29 left in the second half.
Senior Derek Zuniga recorded an assist on each goal.
Marchand's second goal came with 26:46 remaining in the second half, and Baraldi tallied the assist.
''It was a hard-fought game,'' Biros said. ''I thought we did a really good job of getting behind them and creating dangerous chances. We kept the pressure on them.''
Green, which started all seniors, concludes its season at 12-5-3.
''This is the last time some of them will ever play soccer,'' Green coach Justin Thacker said. ''This is a culmination of all the hard years of work. This is a special group. We had 11 guys in the starting lineup that are seniors and we have 14 guys on the team that are seniors, so even when we were subbing, we were bringing in seniors.''
Thacker praised the play of Bulldogs seniors Juan Amaya, Jud Sprandel, Joe Aber, Ryan Wilson and Eric Neumann.
''This was a great group to work with, fun on and off the field,'' Thacker said. ''They are friends, so they will be hanging out after the season. It's not like this is the last time they will see each other.''
Thacker said Amaya ''has a flair from growing up around the game in Colombia'' and Sprandel ''is by the far the most consistent player we have, consistent in practice and consistent in games.''
''You can't replace 14 seniors, 14 quality individuals that are a part of the team overnight,'' Thacker said.
Jackson and St. Ignatius have met several times in the playoffs, and Marchand said St. Ignatius won a regular season game 3-0 on Sept. 26.
''We're really looking for revenge,'' Marchand said. ''That 3-0 loss was pretty hard to take. We will be coming for them.''
RAVENNA: Senior Greg Marchand made his presence felt on both ends of the field Tuesday night for the Jackson soccer team.
Marchand's skill set and shoe choice were quite noticeable in a 3-0 victory over Green in a Division I regional semifinal game on Gilcrest Field at Ravenna Stadium. Marchand scored two goals and was a key defender for the Polar Bears.
Jackson (19-1-0) advances to play Cleveland St. Ignatius in a Division I regional final Saturday at 3 p.m. at Rocky River. St. Ignatius defeated Mayfield 1-0 Tuesday night at Rocky River.
Polar Bears coach Michael Biros said he is constantly impressed by Marchand's play at both ends of the field.
''He is a wall back there,'' Biros said. ''He has his players organized in front.
''Those were his seventh and eighth goals of the year. He comes up on our set pieces and he is very good in the air.''
The Polar Bears posted their 15th shutout of the season with Marchand, seniors Chris Angelo, Brock Emrick and Brian Zilla and juniors Joey Dennis and Ben Clark playing a key role in the back.
''We haven't give up one goal in these playoffs,'' said Marchand, who wore distinctive bright blue shoes to go with his white uniform and shorts that featured yellow and purple mixed in. ''That is something we have to keep up.''
Marchand's first goal came with 26:37 remaining in the first half. Junior Danny Baraldi gave Jackson a 2-0 lead when he scored a goal with 36:29 left in the second half.
Senior Derek Zuniga recorded an assist on each goal.
Marchand's second goal came with 26:46 remaining in the second half, and Baraldi tallied the assist.
''It was a hard-fought game,'' Biros said. ''I thought we did a really good job of getting behind them and creating dangerous chances. We kept the pressure on them.''
Green, which started all seniors, concludes its season at 12-5-3.
''This is the last time some of them will ever play soccer,'' Green coach Justin Thacker said. ''This is a culmination of all the hard years of work. This is a special group. We had 11 guys in the starting lineup that are seniors and we have 14 guys on the team that are seniors, so even when we were subbing, we were bringing in seniors.''
Thacker praised the play of Bulldogs seniors Juan Amaya, Jud Sprandel, Joe Aber, Ryan Wilson and Eric Neumann.
''This was a great group to work with, fun on and off the field,'' Thacker said. ''They are friends, so they will be hanging out after the season. It's not like this is the last time they will see each other.''
Thacker said Amaya ''has a flair from growing up around the game in Colombia'' and Sprandel ''is by the far the most consistent player we have, consistent in practice and consistent in games.''
''You can't replace 14 seniors, 14 quality individuals that are a part of the team overnight,'' Thacker said.
Jackson and St. Ignatius have met several times in the playoffs, and Marchand said St. Ignatius won a regular season game 3-0 on Sept. 26.
''We're really looking for revenge,'' Marchand said. ''That 3-0 loss was pretty hard to take. We will be coming for them.''
Comments
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Kandi, SL
Posted 09:26 PM, 11/04/2009
"This is the last time some of them will ever play soccer." That is a sad statement concerning the beautiful game. Let's hope that opportunities exist for these young people to continue with the greatest game ever invented.
