High school soccer: Keystone boys soccer get only goal in win over Open Door

ELYRIA — Keystone got the bounce it needed Saturday afternoon on J.J. Henes' second-half score and goalkeeper Kevin Seman made it stand with critical saves in a 1-0 shutout win over Open Door. "I felt like whoever scored first was going to be in a good situation to control the game a little bit more and control the momentum from the first half," Keystone coach Ed Holmes said. "We were fortunate to get a good bounce and opportunity and took advantage of it." Henes got the lone score early in the second half by putting a loose ball into the goal. The Wildcats (7-8) had a long free-kick attempt that Patriots goalkeeper Rainers Kinnear saved, but he slipped and fell and the ball sat in front of the goal, where Henes followed scored into an open net. "I saw the free kick go right to him and I figured if he dropped it I could be right there, and I put it right in," Henes said. "It was right there." "I was so excited, I was probably yelling a lot louder than anyone else," Seman said of Henes' goal. The majority of the game's best scoring chances belonged to Open Door (8-4-1) in the first half. The Patriots had three headers from point-blank range off corner kicks, but Seman came up big each time. With each stop, Seman pumped his fists and clapped his hands together to rally his defense. "Kevin's saves in the first half really inspired the guys to play hard and work through the tough spots," Holmes said. "The momentum went from one side to the other in the first half and Kevin came up big for us all day." "I'm just glad I could help the team out to the best of my ability," said Seman, who made nine saves. "It starts in the back to give off that energy and the team feeds off it." Danny Sandoval also came close on a pair of free kicks for Open Door. His first attempt from the right side of the field outside the penalty area smacked the left post. He had another chance from a similar location, but Seman stretched to his right to knock the shot away. For all the opportunities the Patriots had in the first half, their chances in the second weren't as prevalent. "The ball didn't bounce in for us and they scored a goal in the second half and that's the way it worked out," Open Door coach Joel Baker said. "Their goalkeeper had an exceptional day, no question about that, and I want to give him a lot of credit." Holmes said the Wildcats made a halftime adjustment to work the ball into the attacking half of the field, forcing the Patriots to defend more. "We were moving laterally a lot (in the first half.) In the second, I wanted to stretch them a little bit more so we did add another player up top. It worked out for us moving the ball forward." Usually a forward, Kinnear tore his ACL in the first game and will have surgery in three days, according to Baker. Baker said he wanted to give Kinnear a chance to play on Senior Day. Kinnear played the majority of the game in goal, coming off briefly for Parker Loescher in the second half. Loescher suffered a head injury when he went to the ground for a save and was kicked in the back of the head and had to be carted off the field. "Right now our prayers are with Parker," Baker said. "We're hoping he recovers quickly. We have about a week and a half until the playoffs start for us and we'll be ready to go." Keystone 1, Open Door 0 GOALS: (K) JJ Henes (47:22) SHOTS: Keystone 10, Open Door 18 SHOTS ON GOAL: Keystone 5, Open Door 9 SAVES: (K) Kevin Seman 9. (OD) Rainers Kinnear 4 CORNER KICKS: Keystone 7, Open Door 9 OFFSIDES: Keystone 1, Open Door 0 FOULS: Keystone 9, Open Door 5 YELLOW CARDS: (K) Zander Yoho, Tristen Miller RED CARDS: None HALFTIME: Keystone 0, Open Door 0