Elyria Catholic opens playoffs with a win

The Elyria Catholic boys soccer team is on a journey, one that most teams are blessed not travel.

After eight games the Panthers were cruising along at 5-2-1, but then the unthinkable happened — starting goalkeeper Jakob Hwang was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

“They’re facing something that’s so far beyond soccer,” Open Door coach Michael Perris said.

Elyria Catholic extended its season Oct. 18 with a 4-1 victory over Open Door in a Division III sectional semifinal. The Panthers (8-8-1) travel to face Wellington at 3 p.m. Oct. 22 in a sectional final.

But, as Perris said, soccer is important but also secondary for this young Elyria Catholic team that has only three seniors on its roster.

“All you can do is lead as much as possible,” Elyria Catholic coach Eric Kisela said of the unusual situation. “I’m a coach, but now I’m leading them through this journey, Jakob’s journey. Facing this adversity together has definitely brought as closer together as a team.”

Hwang was on the sidelines for the game against Open Door, and when he was introduced, he received a special ovation from fans of both teams. He watched his teammates take control of the rain-soaked game early before cruising to their third consecutive

victory.

Senior Tanner Brooks got the scoring started barely more than a minute into the contest, sending a left-footed shot past Open Door goalie Tommy Kemp, who was partially shielded and didn’t see the shot until it was too late.

Just three minutes later, Gavin Velazquez got into the act, dribbling through several defenders before putting in a shot at point-blank range. It was the 21st goal of the season for the sophomore.

Jake Records and Brad Kelling added goals that came on power shots from the left side, and just midway through the first half the Panthers had a 4-0 lead. Early in the season, Elyria Catholic topped Open

Door by an 8-0 count, but Kisela wanted to use this game to give some players postseason experience, so he cleared his bench relatively early in the proceedings.

“We started out fast,” Kisela said, “and then we got a lot of guys a lot of playing time that hadn’t gotten a lot of playing time. That’s huge for building a program, to get them experience in the playoffs.”

The Panthers continued to dominate the game. Open Door, which ended the season at 1-141, didn’t get its first shot on goal until five minutes into the second half and had very few scoring chances at all.

However, the Patriots tightened things up on defense and the teams were relatively even for much of the second half.

“I’m very proud of the Patriots,” Perris said. “It’s no secret that we’ve had a tough season. But the guys have always come to work with a great attitude. To go from losing 8-0 to losing 4-1 is marked improvement.”

Indeed, the Patriots did continue to play hard, eventually resulting in a goal by freshman Mark Yakobchuk with 14:08 to play. Fellow freshman Ryan Emilio — the Patriots start five freshmen — worked the ball up the right sideline before sending in a shot that was saved by Elyria Catholic goalie Bryce Hileman. However, the rebound got loose out front and Yakobchuk was there to clean it up for just the 10th goal of the season for Open Door.