Blog

Mar 27, 2024

Knights down Jackets, 4

TOLEDO — In the second game of an annual girls-boys soccer varsity doubleheader Friday, Perrysburg boys lost its season opener to Toledo St. Francis, 4-1, at LeValley Stadium in West Toledo Friday.

TOLEDO — In the second game of an annual girls-boys soccer varsity doubleheader Friday, Perrysburg boys lost its season opener to Toledo St. Francis, 4-1, at LeValley Stadium in West Toledo Friday.

After the girls game was played in hot, humid temperatures, but no rain, the boys found themselves playing through a heavy rainstorm most of the first half and part of the second half, plus both teams had to endure a short lightning delay.

The delay was limited when it was determined that lightning seen on the horizon was 20 to 30 miles away, but that didn’t stop either team from taking the rivalry to the limit once play resumed.

The game saw seven yellow cards, four whistled against the Knights and three on the Yellow Jackets, and the second half saw 19 fouls called, including 12 against St. Francis.

None of that was any excuse for Perrysburg coach Dennis Jeansonne’s team’s performance.

“I think we weren’t ready,” Jeansonne said. “We weren’t precise, we weren’t clean, we couldn’t put more than two or three passes together.”

After the game, Jeansonne spent at least 20 minutes talking to his team, despite a near-empty stadium and rain continuing to fall. He made his message clear to his players.

“It’s game one and we’ve got 16 more regular season games to go, but if we want to have a good season it has to be better,” Jeansonne said.

“We’ve got to get more technical in training, get the mental game back into it right, we have to be smarter, try harder, and train smarter.”

Perrysburg senior forward Jack Bowe scored his team’s only goal on a header inside the box with 1:11 remaining, but by that time the Knights had already put four scores on the board.

The Knights did not dominate possession and had just a 10-7 advantage in shots, including 7-6 in shots on goal. Perrysburg’s possession offense was unable to piece together enough passes to score.

There were few scoring opportunities by either team and only four corner kicks, three taken by St. Francis. It was a set piece that got the Knights started.

After a Perrysburg foul and yellow card, St. Francis junior forward Josh Brennan’s free kick from 25 yards out was slightly deflected and sailed past Perrysburg senior goalkeeper Isaac Revill, who was in perfect position until the deflection.

That goal came with 21:10 remaining in the first half but held up until halftime. Brennan found the back of the net again early in the second half.

Just two minutes and 11 seconds after the second half kickoff, Brennan made a move inside the box and angled a shot off his right foot that scored off the left post, putting the Knights up 2-0.

Just 44 seconds later came the lightning delay, and after resuming play that is when the yellow cards and fouls began to mount, but play continued for nearly 24 minutes without a score.

St. Francis junior midfielder Ryan Bossenbroek beat a Perrysburg defender and he beat the keeper, scoring easily into an empty net with 13:34 remaining and giving the Knights a 3-0 lead.

The Knights’ final goal came off a throw-in from senior defender Hamza Rahal, which was received perfectly by sophomore forward Drew Puckett, scoring on a header with three minutes remaining.