A mixed bag of results from the start of the NOSL regular season, with the Men grabbing all 3 points & the Women dropping their first match since last July
Opening weekend of the NOSL season has completed with the Delaware Rising men’s and women’s teams in action on Sunday evening in a doubleheader at Buckeye Valley High School. There’s always fanfare to start a new season, & both teams were eager to kick things off in a big way. The men faced off against heated rival Greater Columbus FC in the first match, and the women followed up with a familiar foe in Panthers FC out of Ashland.
Delaware Rising Kickoff 2024 with
6-0 rout of greater columbus FC
The men wasted no time on Sunday evening, new signing Zach Hunt opened the scoring within the first 3 minutes of the game with a clinical finish on a breakaway to beat the GCFC keeper near side after a midfield assist from 2023 team MVP, Landon Kuhn. See the goal here
The first half was mostly quiet after that point, both teams had some chances but neither were able find daylight with Delaware holding on to the 1-0 lead going into halftime.
The second half was a different story altogether. From the opening kickoff, Delaware took the game to GCFC & their consistent possession and attack paid dividends. Delaware opened the game up with a flurry of goals, 5 IN TOTAL before the game hit the 70th minute.
Rising newcomer Jack Kossoudji opened his scoring tally with a ticky-tack goal in the box. From a short pass from Jackson Terry, Kossoudji hit a solid shot to the feet of the GCFC keeper, the ball squirted through his legs and Kossoudji was able to pick it up before the defenders could and tapped it in for an easy goal, increasing DRFCs lead to 2-0. See the goal here
Not content to sit back, Delaware was able to quickly regain possession from the restart, the backline was able to break down a GCFC attacking threat and sent the ball over the top to Brent Rader who beat his man to slot a short grounded pass into the middle where Ryan Miller could easily beat the keeper, making it 3-0 Delaware Rising. See the goal here
Goal #4 nearly came from a 30 yard free kick from Landon Kuhn, the shot rang off the near post & ricocheted back into the middle of the box. The defense was slow to react to the free kick & Alex Brown got to the ball 1st. After his shot was deflected by the keeper, the ball popped to nearby forward, Zach Hunt who easily headed the ball for the brace. See the goal here
Ryan Miller got a brace a few moments later, this time on another set piece. Delaware set up for a corner kick on the far side, taken by Landon Kuhn. The ball was served perfectly, just outside the 6-yard box where Miller was able to get off a solid header into the nearside top corner well away from the reach of the keeper. The rout is on, Delaware Rising up 5-0! See the goal here
The onslaught of goals was capped off with a beautiful high probability goal from forward Zach Hunt, following the best solo assist effort of the evening from Jack Kossoudji. Kossoudji received the pass on the far side of the 18-yard box & used some premier footwork to get past his man before slotting a difficult pass to Hunt, who beat the keeper with a powerful right-footed shot to cap off the hat trick! See the goal here
From there, the game was all but over. The 20+ minutes of the match played out without much fanfare & at the final whistle, Delaware Rising got their 1st three points of the season. The defense didn’t face many threats on the evening all told, but they stood up to the few challenges they did see & worked hard to get the first clean sheet of the season.
Superlative for the night: Zach Hunt earned Player of the Match honors, contributing 3 goals to the winning effort.
Match facts:
Delaware improves to 3-0-1 all time against Greater Columbus FC. The 6-0 result is the 2nd clean sheet Delaware has had against GCFC, the first coming in their first ever matchup, a 1-0 win in 2021. That win came on a stoppage time goal from Colin McComb after one of the best defensive performances in Delaware Rising history.
The 6-0 result is 2nd largest margin of victory in Delaware Rising history, the largest being a 9-0 win in 2021 against Stark County United
Final thoughts on the evening: the Rising looked for a result that would send a message to the rest of NOSL that they are title contenders & a 6-0 drubbing of the 2x reigning league champs sends that message loud and clear! There was lots of internal buzz about the new signings in the lead-up to the season & getting 4 goals & 2 assists from guys making their DRFC debuts shows that the group is gelling well already.
The road ahead doesn’t get easier, with Delaware on the road for the next two matches: Saturday, May 18th against NOSL mainstay & 2021 league champions, Ambassadors FC. That game kicks off at 1pm from Malone University. After that, the men travel to Mansfield on Wednesday, May 22nd to face Liederkranz in their first match in the Stimulus Cup, that game will kick off at 7pm.
Following the 6-0 win, the team huddles up for a post-game meeting
Panthers FC Spoil the Women’s Championship Celebration
Delaware Rising looked to build upon the 2023 championship with a win in front of the home support to start the season on the front foot, but unfortunately the day was not in their favor.
The Rising conceded an early penalty which put them into a 1-0 hole within the first 20 minutes of the match. The Panthers goal scorer lined up and placed a low shot to the left side of the goal. Delaware had a few chances to even the game up before the half, the best being a threatening cross from Lindsey Whitmore that traveled across the mouth of the open goal. The shot nearly found the trailing support, but went wide of net. The score would remain 1-0 in favor of the visitors going into the half.
The Rising looked to regroup at the half and come out ready to even things up. The 1-0 deficit would remain until the final 20 minutes, where Panthers would double their lead on a highlight reel goal coming from a corner kick. The corner was taken short and uncontested & the Panthers goal scorer carried the ball into the box before turning and firing a perfectly placed shot that found Delaware down 2-0.
Delaware would respond moments later on a Grade-A goal of their own. After a short midfield pass from Molly Ennis, Sydney Thomas sped past the chasing defenders and fired a shot from just inside the box. The shot sailed past the outstretched arms of the Panthers keeper, cutting the score in half. See the goal here
Unfortunately, that would be the only tally on the evening for the Rising. Despite a handful of chances, including a long-distance shot from league MVP Rachel Austin that forced a save, Delaware would be unable to convert again. Panthers added one final goal in the dying moments of the match, a shot from the top of the box that came in the midst of a quick counter attack that Delaware was unable to shut down. At the final whistle, Delaware fell short by a score of 3-1.
Superlative for the night: Reese Hinkle earned Player of the Match honors, contributing to Delaware’s defensive effort with a plethora of ball-winning opportunities throughout the evening.
Match facts:
Delaware falls to 2-1-1 all time against Panthers, with Sunday marking the Rising’s first loss since July 1st of last year, a 0-3 forfeit at the hands of City of Ohio
Reese Hinkle’s player of the match honor marks the 2nd time that a defender earned the award, joining Lexie Syroka who (coincidentally) earned the award in the 2023 season opener.
Final thoughts on the evening: the Rising hoped for a result that would show they hadn’t lost a beat since winning it all last season, but there was a bit of rust. Some missed passes & midfield turnovers are things that can be improved with more playing time & more chances. There are lofty expectations for the season & the excitement about the handful of new signings as well as the return of key pieces in each facet of the squad means that Delaware has the chance to turn it around & they can do it quickly. On to the next one.
The champs will look to bounce back as they face another major test this upcoming weekend, back at home on Sunday, May 19th against City of Ohio SC, in a rematch of the 2023 final. That game kicks off at 7pm from Buckeye Valley High School.
