Coshocton starts fast, Rosecrans battles back in tie

COSHOCTON — It was Senior Night at Kids America, where Coshocton was hosting this year's East Central Ohio League champion, Bishop Rosecrans.

Whether the Senior Night festivities had an effect on the Redskins or not, something got them going, as they exploded in the first seven minutes with two goals in what ended as a 2-2 tie Tuesday.

The quick attack even took Bishops' coach Rodrick Gibson by surprise.

"They are a good team and we knew they would be, but I was not expecting quite that," Gibson said. "We have an extremely strong defense and an extremely strong goalie. We haven't given up too many goals this year total, so to get two put in like that it is definitely a credit to them, their hustle and passion for it."

The first goal was scored by junior Ben Batchelor 4:20 into the game, then senior Conner Roahrig scored two minutes after Batchelor, giving the Redskins a 2-0 lead with 33:26 to play in the first half.

"That put them on their heels a little bit and I was proud of us for that," Coshocton coach Brian Dunlap said. "I knew they could play with this team. We kind of had an up and down year, but when we play well we have been very competitive."

But Bishop Rosecrans, the 10th ranked team in Division III and the first team in school history to finish undefeated in the ECOL, wasn't about to lay down and quit.

They came back and scored after midfielder Carter Hagy dribbled down the left end-line and found Aaron Gelkhen, who finished the chance. Cutting the lead to 2-1.

Then, despite looking frustrated earlier in the game, the Rosecrans forwards got free. Lane Dailey scored to tie the game with 8:54 left in the half.

The Bishops had climbed back into the game after the slow start.

Dunlap said the team's communication issues hurt them in the first half defensively.

"I've got a lot of new guys in the back," Dunlap said. "It's just different and we are trying to get them to communicate and that team had some skilled players, they are good. We still stuff to work on even though I think we played well."

The second half was a battle for both teams. Each team had pockets of time where they were the better team, early on though the Bishops had control. But, Coshocton goalkeeper Brice George, who finished the game with 11 saves, made some big ones early and often, keeping Coshocton in the game.

"Coshocton's goalkeeper seemed to be in the right spot at the right time. He is a good goalie and he is definitely not something to overlook," Gibson said. "We need to do better. We didn't have one our forwards until midway through the year because he transferred, so we are still trying to find our gears. Once we do good things will happen."

After those first ten minutes, it was Coshocton's turn, they possessed the ball well in periods, but couldn't put the final pieces together to score. Neither could Rosecrans in the final 10 or 15 minutes, which led to the draw.

"We moved the ball a lot better side to side, which opened things up," Gibson said. "It seemed like the better we got the better they got, so it was exciting."

Dunlap said today's result is a confidence booster for the team leading into its final three games before postseason play.

"They are a solid team and we knew that, but I knew we have been playing solid soccer," Dunlap said. "We still need some wins. That would be the real confidence boost, but a tie against a good team like this is not bad."

While the Bishops can be excited about finishing ECOL undefeated for the first time, Gibson said they need to get better.

"Anytime you are the first to do something in you school's history it's big," he said. "We are happy with the league championship, but we want to be in that last game of the year."

cteaguerob@gannett.com

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Twitter: @cj_teague