Wayne County crew flying high in inaugural NOSL title
Amish Country United keeper Brady Thompson reaches high to thwart the attempted header of FC Accipiter’s John Gall during the inaugural NOSL Cup Championship. Accipiter claimed the crown with a 3-1 victory.
When Micah Boggs was trying to put a name to his Northern Ohio Soccer League’s Wayne County-based soccer team, he wanted something that captured the spirit of a hawk yet didn’t sound too corny.
Boggs decided to try a little Latin, and in doing so came up with the high-flying name Accipiter, the Latin word for hawk. Amazingly enough, the Accipiter Hawk is well known for its presence in the marshes of Wayne County, so the name seemed appropriate.
On Saturday, July 12 at Wooster High school, FC Accipiter soared on wings of gold as the Wayne County team knocked off Amish Country United 3-1 in the finals of the inaugural Northern Ohio Soccer League to claim the crown.
After an early burst from AC United, FC Accipiter took command over the final 40 minutes of the first half and really could have held a much larger lead than the 1-0 advantage they took into the intermission. The Hawks got their lone tally of the first half off the foot of Patrick Brightbill who along with Boggs continued to put pressure on the AC United defense.
AC United, which had stunned regular season champion Inter Ohio FC in the semifinals 2-0, continued its strong late-season and found the equalizer just four minutes into the second half when Gerardo Rivas drove home a goal past Accipiter keeper Logan Smith.
Momentum was now on the side of the underdog, but not for long. Three minutes after seeing the game knotted up, FC Accipiter responded with the eventual game-winning goal, this one coming off a score from Dan Boyes.
“I always preach five minutes, after any goal, the next five minutes has to be our goal,” Boggs said. “We just needed to stay composed.”
The two teams kept firing away, both getting a couple of scoring opportunities that were turned away by Smith and AC United keeper Brady Thompson. However, in the game’s 71st minute FC Accipiter found the back-breaker. Brightbill played a stunning cross to Boggs who chested in the bullet pass to give the Hawks some much-needed insurance.
“Patrick played an amazing ball in and after that goal you could really feel their energy just drop,” Boggs said. “We just kind of maintained where we were the rest of the game. They were a solid team and they gave us a run for our money the second time we played them. They deserved to be here. They had a lot of heart and when they scored the equalizer it was going to be a huge game on.”
FC Accipiter was built on the strength of some of Wayne County’s finest, including players from Smithville, Northwestern, Central Christian, Norwayne and Firelands. Boggs said he went digging for players who were hungry to compete and get better and put together a championship team in the process.
One of those Smithville guys was Smith, a junior at Smithville High School. He played an outstanding game and also led the league in saves this season, so it was a great learning experience for him.
“That was a total team effort and we really gave our all for all 90 minutes,” Smith said. “This league has been a really great opportunity for me to develop skills.”
The well-played final was a fitting end to the league’s first season.
When Braden Mast started the league this year, his hopes were that it would produce a season much like the one that played out. Thus, it was an odd feeling for the AC United defender as he walked off the field after the finals.
“I’m really happy,” Mast said. “After the game, I was walking off the field and I was sad because we had lost in a final, and for the rest of my teammates it was sad because this is all they had. But seeing all of the fans cheering and the other team happy it was a good feeling. Watching them lift the trophy was a cool moment, and looking back, I am so happy with how it turned out. It was a good final and I’m looking forward to next year.”
With six new teams already slated to join the league next season, the growth Mast was looking for is coming rapidly for the fledgling league.
Boggs, who plays at Cornerstone University with his brother Jeshua, said the league was very beneficial to the players who continue to hone their skills at the college and high school level. He was surprised with how competitive it was and felt like it gave players a perfect opportunity to expand their game.
At half-time the NOSL honored its Player of the Year, who was voted on by the players. That honor went to Malone University standout Austin Coldsnow, who racked up eight goals and six assists on the season.
Despite his strong Stark County United team not being in the finals, having been knocked off by FC Accipiter in the semifinals, Coldsnow was on hand to accept the Most Valuable Player honor and talked about the league and his experience this summer.
“This has been super-awesome Coldsnow said. “There really aren’t any other leagues like this in the area and the closest team I could find for college was up in Cleveland and I didn’t want to go up there for every practice.”
Instead he and several teammates from MU formed a team and took flight in the NOSL, which gave them some strong playing time against top-caliber competition.
As for the MVP honor, Coldsnow was humbled and excited to have been tabbed by his peers.
“I feel really lucky that I got the chance to receive this award,” said Coldsnow, a former Lake High School star. “There are a lot of really great players in this league, so it is a real honor.”