The Madison Rams found themselves feeling lonely as they walked to the bus on Tuesday night. After a 1-0 boys soccer win over Wooster, Madison took sole possession of first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings.
WOOSTER — The Madison Rams found themselves feeling lonely as they walked to the bus on Tuesday night.
After a 1-0 boys soccer win over Wooster, Madison took sole possession of first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings as they are all alone at the top with a 5-0-1 league record with one to play.
"It feels great to get back in the lead," Madison senior Joey Walker said. "We knew after the New Philly game that we had to really lock in if we wanted to win the league again. Everyone was looking at that tie as a shocker, but we only played one half. That really put a target on our backs and gave teams confidence that they could hang with us, but getting this win over that good of a Wooster team proves what kind of team we are."
As everyone was ready to close the book on the first half, Walker had other plans. After keeper Jerry Wertz made a sensational save, he launched a throw that flipped the field in a hurry leading to Walker drilling the game's only goal with five second left in the first half.
Then, the Rams turned the game over to their defense. Wertz made several great saves in the first half, but wasn't pressured in the second half thanks to strong play from the back line.
"It is just about reacting in the moment," Wertz said. "I love my defense because it works so hard in front of me, so when teams do get shots off, I need to be there to make saves. Jordan (Clark), Collin (Faith), Lucas (Swanger) and Noah (Blust) were so solid tonight. Whenever we have long balls in the air, I can count on those guys to win those. We have a wall."
Walker and Madison coach Tim Lord gave a lot of credit to the defense for pitching a shutout against the No. 2 team in the OCC. The Rams have now given up just one goal in league play.
"I am so proud of my guys," Walker said. "Our back line played an incredible match. Jordan played very well today, Jerry was sensational in goal. It was great to see everyone stick together and play locked in. We knew what we had to do today and we made our minds up that we were going to go out and put ourselves in a position to win the OCC."
It seemed everyone made a big play in the match and contributed. It was the definition of a team victory.
"It absolutley was," Lord said. "Our outside defenders, Noah and Collin, I told them that they never get the credit they deserve, but man, winning those headers and keeping the ball moving forward was huge. I don't know how many shutouts we have this year, but this is right up there with our most impressive. The guys were psyched about this one."
The Rams take on Lexington on Sept. 30 in a must-win game if they hope to clinch another OCC championship. But Lord isn't going to let his team move on so quickly from the win on Tuesday night. He wanted them to soak it in and enjoy it.
"This was nice," Lord said. "That Wooster team is very, very good. They lost some big players from last year and they are right back in the thick of the OCC again. I felt like the second half was the difference. We neutralized their attack and our attck was down their throats almost the entire 40 minutes. Even though we only had one goal, I felt like we controled the game."
Madison (10-2-1, 5-0-1) can clinch an outright championship in the final league game of the year next week. With a win, the Rams can max out at 19 points (teams get three points for every win and one point for a tie) while Wooster can max out at 18 wins if the Generals (8-4, 4-1) can win their final two league games. Lexington (5-4-2, 3-1-1) still has an outside chance at claiming at least a share of a league title if the Minutemen can knock off both Wooster and Madison in the final week of the season. Lexington can max out at 16 points, but with a win over Madison, could force a share of the OCC title, if the Minutemen can beat Wooster on Oct. 7.
But for now, the Rams will enjoy the view from the top.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Madison Rams beat Wooster Generals in Ohio Cardinal Conference boys soccer action
Category: General Sports
