Tuesday, September 23, 2008 — Gray Stone traveled to Monroe on Monday to battle conference foe Monroe High School to maintain their #2 standing in the Rocky River Conference.
The expectations were set for a quick rebound from the 1-0 loss to Central Academy just three days before, but the Knights struggled early in the match for ball control.
“The artificial turf gave us some problems,” Knights head coach Jeff Morris said, explaining that his team struggled to keep the ball on the ground and connect on passes.
“It took quite a while for us to adjust to the surface.”
Gray Stone and Monroe played to a scoreless tie at the half.
The Knights adjusted at half time to strengthen its control of the midfield and spend more time finding passes than pushing forward to goal. The ball movement paid off.
Jeffrey Harrington broke free with the ball toward the Redhawk goal. The Monroe keeper stepped out to defend knocking the ball loose to a waiting Steve Smith who confidently slotted the ball into the goal for the game's only score.
John Michael McCormick made only five plays on the ball to earn the shutout, his sixth of the year.
The Knights will be back in action at the Albemarle Soccer Complex on Wednesday when the battle Mount Pleasant at 5pm.
The Knights won the first matchup with the Tigers by a score of 4-1.
CATA 1, Gray Stone 0
The #1-ranked Cougars of Central Academy would need overtime to hand the Knights their first loss of the season.
Gray Stone’s Matt Dassler took a shot from 30 yards away that got past the Cougar’s keeper only to hit the left post.
Three minutes into overtime, Donnie Lawrence scored off a corner kick for the lone goal of the game.
“This match showed that we can play with anyone. We are energized by this performance,” Morris said.
