By RYAN WALKER
MONROEVILLE—A first-half breakaway goal by Ar Zit Cahn was all the Heritage Patriots needed to defeat Norwell 1-0 Thursday night.
The goal came with just over 10 minutes left in regulation when Cahn broke free after a pass down the field in a wide-open chance. Despite the defensive miscue, Norwell gave the 6-4-2 Patriots team a run most of the night.
“(The Patriots) pass the ball well,” Norwell head coach Kiel Nunn said after the game. “They got that one breakaway, and that’s really the difference in this game. It got through the middle. Other than that, I think we played strong. We played solid. We just couldn’t get it to fall.”
Heritage possessed the ball for the majority of the second half to wind down the clock, but the first half had the Knights chomping at the bit.
Kyler Morris had two of the better opportunities.
The first was a rebound right in front of the net, attempting to kick the ball in mid-air with defenders around him. The kick just didn’t have enough juice on it, and harmlessly went to goaltender Toby Henning.
The second came on a corner kick toward the end of the half. Morris sent the ball down near the goal, and the ball bounced around right in front of the net. Henning had to dive backward to snatch the ball just inches from the line and perhaps on it.
The Patriots defense deserves some credit. The strategy appeared to have pressure in the middle, where leading goal-scorer Morris plays and force the Knights on the outside. Nunn stated that his team didn’t do well enough adjusting to that and overshooting passes back to Heritage.
For a defensive-minded team like Heritage, small mistakes add up and allow the Patriots to play their way.
“Our boys fought hard. A 1-0 loss is tough,” Nunn said. “We had our shots, we had our moments, we just couldn’t get them on frame, or we just had a pass that went too far and couldn’t connect. Little things like that kind of got us tonight.”
With the loss, the Knights fall to 4-8-1 on the season with three games remaining.
The sectional, set to take place in two weeks, will announce pairings this Sunday night at 7 p.m. For those who want to watch, the link is on the IHSAA’s website, where it will be covering both the boys’ and girls’ soccer pairings.
The sectional will be held at Woodlan on a turf field like Heritage. The Knights had some issues playing the ball on the turf as opposed to their home natural grass.
Nunn said that he could tell the difference with some of their passes and first touches. To combat it, the team will be practicing on the football field.
“Our first touches. You can tell we don’t play a lot on turf,” Nunn said. “Our natural element is on grass — I’m a grass fan myself. We just need to work on touches. We need to get some practices out on the turf on our football field and just kind of get comfortable with that.”
Norwell’s next match will be against Columbia City at home starting at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23.
Noah Fromm made 16 saves in net for the Knights.
The junior varsity team also lost 1-0. Elijah Nunn made six saves.
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