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STOW -- The United boys soccer team won a school-record third straight district championship Saturday, but this one was extra special -- the kind players and coaches will still fondly recall when they're old and gray.
The 11th-seeded Golden Eagles traveled to Stow-Munroe Falls High School and knocked off defending back-to-back state qualifier Kidron Central Christian 1-0 to capture a Division V district championship in a defensive masterpiece.
"We got that quick goal three minutes in and that was huge," said United coach Curtis Jones. "I always tell the boys, we always try and get a goal in the first 10 minutes -- let's throw the first punch, and we did."
"They (the Golden Eagles) defended well," said Kidron Central Christian coach Alex Steiner. "They put numbers behind the ball and they didn't let us break through."
That "first punch" Jones referred to occurred in just the third minute of the match when Golden Eagle senior Zach Blake rocketed a shot into the back of the Comets' net to give United a quick 1-0 lead.
"I honestly blanked out," said Blake amongst a large celebration of United fans who made the trip. "I saw the ball coming to me and said I have no choice, I have to put this in. Coach said before the game even started, the first five minutes we needed two (goals) and I got one. (Getting the winning goal) is just other worldly, it really is. It's the best feeling."
"We've been working on slot attacks," saidd Jones of the decisive goal. "You play wide and attack that end line and then you slide it across, which drives the goalkeeper over to one side. We've been working on that backside run, and that's basically how that was set up. I couldn't be prouder -- that was a textbook team goal."
Not only did the early goal give the Golden Eagles the lead, but it allowed their defense to go into lockdown mode against the Comets, who had tallied 59 goals this season heading into the match. United's defense swarmed Kidron Central's offense and denied every scoring opportunity for the Comets.
"It's tough when you forfeit an early lead, especially when a team realizes that they can compact things and make it difficult, and that's what they did," said Steiner. "Kudos to them (for playing well defensively and staying behind the ball and making it hard for us."
United goalkeeper Aiden Gundersen was masterful in the net, pitching a shutout while stopping 11 Kidron Central shots on goal.
"I had Aiden down for 11 saves in goal today and how many others just cleaning up stuff?" Said Jones.
The Golden Eagles, who seemed a step quicker, flustered the fourth-seeded Comets and denied them any time they got within striking distance of the goal.
Blake knew what United had to do once it took the early advantage.
"It was leave it all on the field, it's either win or go home," he said. "I think this is the best one (of all the district titles) we've won yet. Honestly, it was all the different moving parts (on defense). We played a different formation, and I think we wanted it more."
The win also avenged a 4-1 regular-season loss the Golden Eagles sustained against the Comets on Aug. 27. Kidron central had won its previous four meetings against the Golden Eagles.
"We knew it was going to be a tough challenge because Kidron is an opponent that we're used to seeing," said Jones. "We played them in the regular season and we were 1-1 for about 68 minutes and we gave up three (goals) in the last 12 minutes and ended up losing 4-1. So we knew we were going to have to clean up some of the mistakes we made and make sure our back line was defending as a unit."
The United back line of which Jones mentioned turned in a yeoman effort.
"We had a high emphasis on our back line setting up in a way where if they tried to play through us that (goalkeeper) Gundersen would have a good chance of coming out and getting it (the ball) with his hands," said Jones. "We tried to minimize having one on ones, and they only had one (one-on-one), so our back line played beautifully today. On a day where we didn't produce as much offense as I would have liked, the defense took care of business.
"They scored early and were able to capitalize from there," said the Kidron CC coach. "The big difference was they got that first goal and made the rest of the game go a lot differently."
Fourth-seeded Kidron Central Christian, which has made it to state seven times in program history, finished its campaign with a 12-5-2 record.
"We've got 13 seniors this year, so it's a group that's been instrumental through their whole high school career," said Steiner, "and we're proud of the effort they've given."
United (11-6-1) advances to the Division V regional and will play No. 2 seed Rootstown (15-2-2) in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Burton's Great Lakes Cheese Stadium.
Rootstown won a district crown on Saturday in a 5-1 triumph over Kirtland.
"This our third consecutive district championship for this group and sixth straight appearance (as a program)," said United's Jones. "So, we've made this a habit in recent history of playing in this (regional semifinal) game, so now we're just going to find a turf field to practice on and get ready for regionals on Wednesday. Regional semifinals have been a big stumbling block for us, we've never gotten past that point, so Wednesday is trying to make history."