Boys soccer: North Ridgeville overcomes odds and obstacles to down Hudson in OT, reach regional final

MACEDONIA — Ten men. No problem. North Ridgeville played the final 61 minutes of Wednesday's Division II regional semifinal a man down, found itself trailing with time running out in the second half and pressed a reserve sophomore goalkeeper into action without as much as a chance to warm up, but all the Rangers did was a find a way to win. Senior Nate Bright scored his second goal of the night in the 15th minute of extra time as North Ridgeville stunned Hudson 3-2 at Nordonia High School's Boliantz Stadium. "We are literally a walking miracle," North Ridgeville coach George Panagiotou said. "We have two sayings in this program that pronounce who we are. One is 'Love the Process.' The other is 'You will not outwork me.' We have a mentality that we refuse to give up." There were many moments when the Rangers (12-2-4) could have hung their heads but just kept getting stronger as the game progressed. Rangers starting goalkeeper Lucas Krejsa was given a red card in the 34th minute after committing a foul outside the box on a Hudson attacker in a breakaway situation. Sophomore Micah Braun sprung into action, kept the Explorers off the board until the 60th minute and allowed North Ridgeville to play on without missing a beat. "My initial reaction was shock but I was confident in myself," Braun said. "I've been waiting for this moment, I wasn't going to let it slip." Braun will be in goal Sunday at noon when the Rangers face North Royalton in the regional final at Byers Field. The Bears defeated North Canton Hoover 2-1 in their regional semifinal. North Ridgeville is looking to become the first Lorain County and first Southwestern Conference team to win a regional championship since Avon in 2021. Bright scored the first goal of the game in the 56th minute. Nearly 40 minutes later he scored the biggest goal in school history. The game-winner came off an assist from Preston Thomas, who played the ball across the box from deep in the corner and found Bright ready to deliver it home. "It was great run from Preston, I was just doing what we've trained our team to do for years, be on the back post, be ready for a cross and finish it where it needs to be," Bright said. "I was honestly a bit starstruck when I saw it go in. It was so surreal. No team in North Ridgeville history has made it this far and we've overcome so many challenges to get here." The Rangers' 1-0 lead was short-lived as Hudson (17-1-1) responded with two goals in four minutes, both off the right foot of junior Will Hallis. The loss was the first of the year for the Explorers who, prior to Wednesday, hadn't been scored on in seven games and only allowed more than one goal once all season. "We made a few tactical adjustments in the second half to tighten things up in the middle," Panagiotou said. "But what we needed to do in the big picture was recognize what we were here for in the first place and to remember win or lose we love each other and play for one another." Junior Paxton Hill's goal in the 77th minute tied the game at 2 and allowed the Rangers the chance to fight on into the overtime period. "Everyone was putting in their blood, sweat and tears for this so I knew I needed to step up," Hill said. "But it wasn't just me, everyone was fighting for that moment. It's tough to play with 10 men but everyone played as one and picked each other up. This win started last December with the work we put in during the offseason." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. North Ridgeville 3, Hudson 2 (OT) GOALS: (NR) Nate Bright (57th minute, 95th minute), Paxton Hill (77th minute); (H) Will Hallis (60th minute, 64th minute) ASSISTS: (NR) Preston Thomas; (H) Parker Manier SAVES: (NR) Lucas Krejsa 6, Micah Braun 5; (H) Braeden Deutsch 7 SHOTS ON GOAL: North Ridgeville 10, Hudson 13 FOULS: North Ridgeville 9, Hudson 18 CORNER KICKS: North Ridgeville 6, Hudson 7 OFFSIDE: North Ridgeville 3, Hudson 4 RED CARD: (NR) Krejsa (34th minute) YELLOW CARDS: (NR) Thomas (70th minute); (H) Ian Mihalek HALFTIME: 0-0