Boys soccer: Open Door makes Elyria Catholic pay for its mistakes

ELYRIA — Open Door took advantage of Elyria Catholic's miscues. The Panthers committed three yellow cards, including one in the box that led to the only goal when Job Pruitt buried the penalty kick for a 1-0 Patriots win Saturday afternoon. "They played a great defense, thankfully we were able to get it," Pruitt said. "I've been working on my penalty kicks, so thankfully it went in the back in the net. It feels great." Elyria Catholic (0-5-0) outshot Open Door 8-6 with six on goal to four, but could not get into a rhythm offensively as the Patriots defense held strong every time the Panthers mounted an attack. Goalkeeper Caleb Bores saved all six shots. The game swung, however, on a pair of yellow cards that resulted in one of Elyria Catholic's best players getting ejected. Nick Phillips was carded in the box that led to Pruitt's goal, and then picked up a second in the 20th minute. With two yellows, Phillips was not allowed to return and the Panthers had to play a man down for the remainder of the game. "He's our leader who rallies the troops and pushes us," Elyria Catholic coach Jason Kempton said of Phillips. "You can see what happened, we lost our leader and we lost focus. But the boys played really good. We have some injuries and kids are coming off the bench and doing their part. We have to be patient, it's a long season. It's coming together and we have to just continue to focus on the game plan." Open Door (6-1-0) utilized its man-up advantage to pack the box, making it difficult for the Elyria Catholic offense to find any openings. While the Patriots recorded only one second-half shot, the Panthers misfired on their five attempts. Elyria Catholic did, however, have two prime opportunities to get an equalizer. Jordan Ramos was fed a nice through ball in the 67th minute, but the Open Door defense recovered in time to force a pass over the middle for a contested shot that was blocked. The Panthers' best attempt came in the 74th minute when Eli Kempton delivered a shot from 20 yards out that looked as if it was going to hook into the goal, but it ricocheted off the left post and out of bounds. In the final minute, Elyria Catholic played a great through ball that Open Door's defense popped straight into the air. Hezekiah Garcia was there for the point-blank header, but Bores made a great save to preserve the win. "Jason has a great team, he's put together a great squad over there," Open Door coach Joel Baker said. "I give credit to our boys. They kept the right attitude. It was a little bit different of a game plan, but we made some adjustments and every single boy on the roster gave everything that they had. Just a great team effort overall." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter. Open Door 1, Elyria Catholic 0 GOALS: (OD) Job Pruitt (11th minute PK) SHOTS: Open Door 6, Elyria Catholic 8 SHOTS ON GOAL: Open Door 4, Elyria Catholic 6 SAVES: (OD) Caleb Bores 6; (EC) Zack Taylor 3 FOULS: Open Door 12, Elyria Catholic 15 YELLOW CARDS: Open Door 1, Elyria Catholic 3 PENALTY KICKS: Open Door 1 CORNER KICKS: Open Door 3, Elyria Catholic 2 FREE KICKS: Open Door 15, Elyria Catholic 12 GOAL KICKS: Open Door 4, Elyria Catholic 5 HALFTIME: Open Door, 1-0