The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rockets top rival Pirates to win 30th district title
Leadership and skill of Rockets’ Gergye and Cusimano carry the team
An undefeated streak was coming to an end.
And it’s only fitting that it ended where it started.
Neither Bay not Rocky River had experienced defeat since a 0-0 draw on Aug. 29. Bay’s streak continued as the Rockets defeated their rival, 3-0, to claim the Division II Elyria District title on Oct. 27 at Mercy Health Field at Ely Stadium.
Bay (16-1-2) advances to a D-II, Region 6 semifinal, where it will face Lexington at Wooster High School on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. Rocky River’s season ends at 15-2-2.
The district title was the seventh straight for the Rockets and 30th in program history. That number is something Bay coach Bobby Dougherty doesn’t take for granted, with the program in its 49th year.
“We talk about it all the time,” Dougherty said. “The ghosts that are here, the guys who have gone through the program before them. I’m very contingent of all the people who have built this. We’re fortunate enough to be around it.”
The milestone title did not come easy by any means.
The teams battled to a 0-0 stalemate at halftime, and though the Rockets controlled possession and pace of the game, they were not able to break through. It was something that made senior captain Cade Gergye think back to where the unbeaten streak started.
“We battle with each other,” Gergye said. “We both come in off a good stretch to end the season and we’re just really true rivals. To play to a 0-0 half, it’s not surprising.”
Just because it was tied, though, does not mean the Rockets were disheartened by the Pirates turning away multiple chances for the first goal.
“I just kept telling our players, ‘We’re going to get one. It’s coming.’” Gergye said. “We just had to keep working hard and keep doing our responsibility.”
And, for Gergye, one of his key responsibilities is to score. He did just that twice in the second half, notching the first goal of the game six minutes into the second half on a feed into the box from the right side by junior Kyle Cusimano.
Six minutes later Geryge added the dagger on a through ball from Cusimano to make it 2-0 with 27 minutes to play.
“Once you see their (Rocky River’s) heads go down, we knew,” Gergye said of how the second goal appeared to deflate the Pirates’ energy. “We just had to keep pounding and pounding and not let is slip.”
The leadership and skill of Gergye and Cusimano
is something that Dougherty said is a unique aspect of this year’s team.
“Him (Gergye) and Cujo (Cusimano) really carried the load tonight,” Dougherty said. “It’s the same as they’ve always done. I’ve never had a tandem like this. No one has ever been this prolific in the ability to put the ball in the goal in bunches and putting teams away.”
Junior midfielder Aidan Bozak added an insurance goal with 8:25 to play to make it a 3-0 final.
While the Rockets won the second half, it was not due to a lack of effort from the Pirates. Rocky River had seven quality shots on net in the second half, but Bay goalie Kevin Linder, who had just one save in the first half, stopped them all.
“We had chances and we took them,” Rocky River coach Kevin Zerbey said. “They all just went into Linder’s gut. He made the saves he needed to make.”
Rocky River goalie Connor O’Toole ended the game with 10 saves.
For Rocky River, which had only given up 10 goals in the season up to this game, it’s back to the drawing board as the Rockets ended the Pirates season for the eighth straight season.
“There’s 10 other teams in the district who would have loved to have been in this game,” Zerbey said. “It’s extremely disappointing and frustrating to continue to get no further than this game for the program and for all these boys. It still shows where we are as a program. I’m incredibly proud of the guys. Tonight, Bay was better.”