Diego Pinto (Akron, OH) scored in the 12th and 45th minutes of the first half to push Ambassadors FC Ohio to a 4-1 victory at Niagara 1812 on Saturday night in a 90 minute torrential downpour on the campus of Niagara University.
AFC Ohio shares the top of the table on points, only trailing Erie Commodores on goal difference to set the pace in the Great Lakes Conference of the NPSL.
It was difficult for both teams to maintain possession as the ball skipped and slid on the wet artificial surface only to be influenced as well by the strong wind constantly blowing from the southeast. AFC Ohio found a few opportunities to get in early. Then, in the 12th minute, Amir Spratt (Kent, OH/Univ. of Mount Union) received the ball on the break only to find Pinto driving into the area to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Following the goal, AFC continued to mount pressure bypassing their own midfield to play on the flanks and create chances and crosses into the area. In the 26th minute, totally against the run of play, Jacob Schacht (Nashville, TN/Colgate) received a backpass from the midfield only to slip on the wet turf giving Jordon Nobe of Niagara 1812 an opportunity alone on AFC keeper Nick Bertolini that he put away to draw the match even.
“The early goal gave us a great boost, but I was concerned with our reaction after giving up the equalizer,” said AFC Ohio Head Coach & Technical Director Ryan Dean. “The next moments in the match did not meet our standards for reaction and poise so we needed to suffer through that to get back into the match.”
In the 42nd minute, the reaction started to show toward the positive as Ambassadors once again tuned into possession, ball movement, and increasing the speed of play. Following some sustained possession, Schacht certainly made up for the slip when he clipped a ball from just outside the right side of the area to a slashing Pinto who beat the keeper to flighted ball to head it in only moments before the one added minute at the end of first stanza expired.
When the teams came out of the break, it was obvious that AFC Ohio had their tails up and were dialed in to win 1st and 2nd aerial balls and try to create more quality chances. Following a foul by Niagara, Ambassadors played a quick restart to release Spratt into the area where he clipped a ball to the side netting past the Niagara keeper. But, after an extensive stoppage, the official chalked off the goal after a conversation with the assistant referee. That decision certainly sparked a positive reaction from the visitors for the remainder of the half.
“That decision really became the source of a great reaction from the fellas,” Dean exclaimed. “I was super happy to see that reaction and the way we responded to that source of adversity.”
In the 75 minute, Ambassadors midfielder Tyler Harsch (Aliquippa, PA/Univ. of Mount Union) showed incredible work rate sliding to save a ball before it went into touch and redirecting it to debutant Zak Kersey (Lincoln, UK/Neosho County CC) who opened up to play an outstanding one-touch finishing into the opposite side netting to put AFC virtually out of reach at 3-1.
Injuries and substitutions saw the referee add six minutes of stoppage time and that provided Ambassadors with another chance. Wingback veteran James D’Isidoro (Twinsburg, OH/Wittenberg Univ.), playing in his first match of the season, took on at least two 1812 defenders to drive to the byline and loft a cross to the back post to Spratt who put the match to bed in the 95th minute.
Ambassadors will return home next Saturday, May 30 to host Great Lakes Conference rival Flower City Union at 5:00 p.m. at Dr. David & Winnie King Field on the campus of Malone University in Canton, Ohio.
