A 3-match week see the men earning points on the road & the women coming up short at home
In the 2nd week of NOSL action, both the men’s and women’s teams were in action again. The men got their 1st multi-match week of the season, first traveling north to Malone University in Canton to face off against Ambassadors FC on Saturday, then up to Mansfield to face Liederkranz II on Wednesday in the first round of Stimulus Cup action. The women welcomed City of Ohio SC on Sunday to the friendly confines of Buckeye Valley High School for a rematch of the 2023 league finals.
Short-handed Delaware Rising Ride Defense & Timely Penalty to 1-1 draw
An intense & chippy matchup between Delaware Rising & Ambassadors FC resulted in a 1-1 draw, with Delaware spending 70+ minutes down to 10 players. After receiving a straight red card early in the match, Delaware didn’t seem phased by the disadvantage in the least. Both Delaware and Ambassadors saw a handful of scoring chances in the first half, with GK Aiden Miller making a handful of saves to keep Ambassadors off the board. Delaware’s Zach Hunt nearly connected on an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 21st minute & also connected with Colin McComb to force a save right before the halftime whistle. At the half, Delaware and Ambassadors were deadlocked at 0-0.
Coming out of halftime, Ambassadors had an early scoring chance in the 51st minute, a penalty awarded after a rough challenge in the box. The kicker lined up & fired a hard shot to the lower right-hand corner, but keeper Connor Sexton read the shot all the way and kicked it away to deny Ambassadors a crucial 1-0 lead. Watch the game-saving effort here
Delaware sent away another close-range attack a few minutes later. Another rough challenge outside the defensive box gave Ambassadors a free kick from 25 yards. The kick was perfectly placed into the box & found another attacker who booted the ball off the crossbar back into play. Before Ambassadors could get another shot off, defender Alex Brown used a Hurculean goalline header to send the ball away from danger. Ambassadors got a 2nd ball toward net, but Sexton was able to snatch it to stop the attack.
The two squads traded possessions until the 70th minute when Delaware would get their biggest chance of the afternoon. On a corner kick, team captain Landon Kuhn, sent a ball into the box & while guarding the goalline, an Ambassador defender knocked down a Rising attacker drawing a penalty of their own. After the dust settled, Kuhn lined up at the spot & hit a shot to the bottom left corner of the goal just past the outstretched arm of the Ambassador keeper to give the Rising a 1-0 lead. See the goal here.
From there, Ambassadors turned up the intensity on the offensive side of the ball. A number of chances including a handful of corner kicks put the pressure on Delaware’s defense & they rose to the challenge. Unfortunately for Delaware, Ambassadors earned one chance too many. In the 90th minute, Ambassadors hit a corner kick that found it’s way into traffic in the box. The initial corner was punched away by Sexton, but Ambassadors put the ball back toward net where they were able to find open space. Despite the defense’s pleas for an offside call, the goal stood and the game was even at 1-1 where it would stay for the remainder of the afternoon.
Superlative for the night: Keeper Connor Sexton earned Player of the Match honors, contributing a number of saves in the 2nd half including the penalty that would ultimately solidify the draw to keep Delaware perfect on the young season.
Match facts:
Delaware improves to 1-1-3 all time against Ambassadors. Both the draw & the win came on the road at Malone University.
Delaware keepers are no stranger to penalty stops against Ambassadors. Along with Connor Sexton’s stop from the afternoon, Tanner Masters also made a massive penalty stop in the 2022 match-up that helped solidify the Rising’s 1st win against Ambassadors & helped launch them into the playoff race.
Final thoughts on the evening: the Rising had to revamp their game plan much earlier than anticipated after the red card, but the squad put up a solid effort to shut down (nearly) everything Ambassadors threw at them. At the end of the season, you’ll take all the points you can get & a hard-fought point on the road is better than nothing. A gutsy 10-man defensive effort shows that this team is built for adversity.
Delaware move on to 2nd round of the Stimulus cup after Storm-shortened Win over LiederKranz 2
The men made a 2nd road trip this week following the draw against Ambassadors, this time for a mid-week matchup against Mansfield Liederkranz II in the first round of the newly established Stimulus Cup.
The game was evenly matched through the first 40 minutes of action, with both sides trading attacking chances though none that served major scoring threats. Delaware had a plethora of corner kicks during the first half, but weren’t able to make much of them until the 40th minute. On a corner taken from the near side, team captain Landon Kuhn, served up a perfect long-ball to the far side of the box where forward Jon Burton was there to head the ball toward goal. The shot was a bit of a floater & sailed just over the outstretched arms of the Mansfield keeper to give Delaware a 1-0 lead going to halftime. See the goal here
Coming out of halftime, Delaware didn’t have to wait long to find their 2nd goal of the evening. Just a couple moments into the half, a punt from the Mansfield keeper found a Delaware attacker. After a one-time pass, Landon Kuhn in a bit of captain-worthy situational awareness caught the Mansfield keeper slow to get back & launched a long-range shot that left Mansfield powerless to defend it. Less than 5 minutes into the half & Delaware would see their lead doubled to 2-0. See the goal here
The match would see no further action as thunder and lightning would begin rolling into the area, forcing a suspension of play in the 56th minute. After a 20 minute delay, the referees & league officials would ultimately decide to rule the match as an official match in lieu of trying to resume at a later date. Delaware left Mansfield with a 2-0 win & a berth in the next round of the Stimulus Cup, with their next opponent to be decided later the same evening in a random drawing.
After the conclusion of the evening’s matches, NOSL held a livestream to draw matchups for the next round of the Stimulus Cup. Delaware was selected to travel to Inter Columbus to face-off in the next round at a date and time to be determined soon.
Superlative for the night: Midfielder Landon Kuhn earned player of the match honors, contributing to both Delaware goals on the evening.
Final thoughts on the evening: in a match affected by the weather, it’s hard to say how the final 35 minutes of the match would have played out, but the intensity of Delaware’s attack & the staunch defensive effort certainly gave the team enough breathing room to lock up the victory. No sense getting caught up on the what-ifs and could-haves, Delaware earned a 2-0 victory on a night where the weather offered a helping hand & they’re moving on to the next round.
GK Connor Sexton, Midfielder Landon Kuhn, & midfielder Kindall Duke all earned Player of the Match honors for their performances in the week’s matches.
Delaware Gets highlight goal but come up short against Ohio City
Delaware Rising looked to bounce back from a week 1 loss to Panthers FC, but came up just short against a scrappy, rebranded Ohio City SC.
Delaware put in a massive shift defensively during the first half, fending off multiple waves of Ohio City attacks. Most of Ohio City’s offensive looks were stalled out before they could put the ball on goal, but there were a few shots that found the target & were stopped by keeper Taylor Thomas including a near point-blank save that came right before halftime (check out the alternate angle here). Delaware had a handful of chances of their own, but much like Ohio City, they didn’t find the target with consistency. At halftime, the match was even at a well-deserved 0-0 scoreline.
Ohio City would find a couple goals in quick succession early in the 2nd half. In the 54th minute, an Ohio City defender sent a ball over the top of the defense finding the forward perfectly in stride with enough open space to put the ball on target. Ohio City 1-0. The second goal came a couple minutes later, with another ball over the top. This time the attacker would use a quick step & some speed to open space to thread a near perfect pass to a fellow forward to tap into the goal. A very quick 2-0 advantage to Ohio City.
Delaware would get their lone goal of the evening 10 minutes later on a highlight reel free kick goal from team captain, Kindall Duke. While playing a ball in the final third, Rising forward Rachel Austin was pulled to the ground by two Ohio City defenders, setting up a free kick from about 30 yards out. Duke lined up and fired a shot that snuck in just beneath the crossbar, cutting the lead to 2-1. See the goal here & an alternate angle here
Following the Rising goal, the match was a mirror of the first half action. Both sides had a few additional scoring opportunities, but both defenses were able to stand up to every challenge. At the final whistle, Ohio City held on to secure the 2-1 victory.
Superlative for the night: Kindall Duke earned Player of the Match honors, for her early season candidate for goal of the year.
Match facts:
Delaware falls to 1-0-3 all time against Ohio City SC
Kindall Duke’s player of the match award marks the 3rd time she has been given the honor, the most of anyone in Rising Women’s team history. The other two times were in consecutive matches against Panthers FC in 2023, in the regular season finale & the first round of the playoffs.
Final thoughts on the evening: the Rising will look forward to the changing of the calendar. Another solid defensive evening with some very clean tackles from defender Reese Hinkle, but the Rising are still looking to find more connections between the defense and offense. They have the ability to score on a whim & when they are able to build consistently from the defense or connect on the counter-attack, it tends to let them score a lot of goals. When those connections happen, things will turn around quickly. The defense is there, the offensive weapons are there, the connection between the two will be crucial to their long-term success.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be off for the Memorial Day holiday weekend & will return to action in the first weekend of June. The men welcome Inter Columbus to BVHS for the first time on Saturday, June 1st at 6 pm & the women will travel to Mansfield to face Liederkranz on Sunday, June 2nd at 2 pm.
