Demons earn big victory over Pirates

Coming off back-to-back losses, Division I Westlake picked up a huge win on Oct. 2 at Rocky River Stadium, beating the No. 3-ranked Pirates in Division II, 2-0. Senior forward Ali Al-Khatib was the star of the game, scoring both Demons goals in the first half, to help Westlake improve to 5-2-5 overall.

“We knew they were a very good team, and we just locked down and gave it all we got,” Al-Khatib said.

Westlake’s attacking third was especially strong in the first half, and the Pirates didn’t have an answer for Al-Khatib, who blasted a top-shelf goal from 15-yards in the 11th minute.

In the 16th minute, AlKhatib struck again, this time slipping into center-midfield and ripping a goal from 10 yards out, assisted from freshman George Coakley.

“We played lousy the last two games, and so I gave the guys three or four days off to clear their minds, and we knew we have a good team,” Westlake coach Mike Besu said. “We showed up to play and we beat a very good team today.”

Suddenly, Rocky River was in a position it hasn’t been in all year: Down two goals in a game. Goalkeeper Owen Corrigan did his part to keep them in it, coming up with a key saves in the second half, including in the 43rd minute blocking a header from midfielder Logan Rummel, and stopped a wide open up close shot from Michael McDiarmid.

In the 54th minute, AlKhatib closed in on another potential goal, maneuvering his way one-on-one past a defender, but Corrigan again stopped the shot cold.

After a foul call on Westlake, senior forward Bryan Kern had a direct free kick from the left corner of the field, but missed high. In the 72nd minute, sophomore Connor O’Toole blasted a shot from the right side, slipping past Demons goalkeeper Levi Swisher, but recovered it right before it crossed the line.

Westlake’s defense, particularly in the midfield, gave the Pirates (11-2) problems, not allowing a shot on goal for a solid chunk of the middle of the game.

The Demons had 21 shots, with 10 shots on target, to Rocky River’s 10 shots and three on target. Swisher made three saves and Corrigan stopped eight.

“Their speed and touch was pretty good,” Rocky River coach Kevin Zerbey said. “They really moved the ball well and it caused us some problems. We haven’t seen too many teams that move the ball like they do. It took us a while to adjust. In the second half, I thought we played a little better.

“But we can learn a lot from this. Including tonight, we have four Division I teams to finish the year. We learned that we need to have an idea what we’re going to do with the ball before we get it. We have to move the ball quicker and it comes down to taking those chances and putting it in the goal. That will take us far in the playoffs.”

Coming soon

There will be more coverage on Westlake’s victory in this week’s notebook of The Morning Journal.