Coming off the pitch, North Ridgeville got its revenge in a 4-1 win over Olmsted Falls on Aug. 31 to remain unbeaten.
A year ago, the Rangers were 6-0 until the reigning SWC champion Bulldogs knocked them off their perch. While they ended up having a great campaign, the middle stretch of the season was a bit of a grind for the younger Rangers.
This year, things are different for the 4-0-0 North Ridgeville side. The Rangers worked on their scoring and aggressiveness coming off of a 2022 season in which they advanced to the district round with a very young starting 11.
“With last year, all of the hard work was put into our summer trainings,” said Nate Bright, who put through the go-ahead goal against the Bulldogs. “Our physical fitness is thanks to those summer trainings.”
They are still fairly young, with five senior starters and several capable underclassmen. The experience shows in their current level of play with confidence in themselves.
“In addition to what you’re talking about in terms of confidence, we have the buy-in this year,” North Ridgeville coach George Panagiotou said. “That’s important, especially for — just being honest — teenage males. They have got to be able to buy in to what you’re trying to create. When they see those tangible results from what they’re doing and they all-together buy-in and we don’t have any outliers that are pushing away, it gives us the opportunity to be able to be successful. I think that’s the big difference here so far.”
That success builds on unselfish, team-oriented soccer that Panagiotou credits to the players’ buy-in.
“It’s INAM; ‘It’s not about me,’” Panagiotou explained. “Success is all about those guys playing for each other.”
That includes what happened at Olmsted Falls, with the Rangers taking things “one game at a time.”
“This is a blessing,” Panagiotou said. “We’re excited about that but this is preparation for the end of the season.”
Senior goalkeeper Aidan Wood said the victory speaks volumes to what the team can accomplish the rest of the campaign.
“It’s what this team can do which pushes us every day with the goal of ‘We want the conference’ and we can get it,” Wood stated. “Everyone on the team has to be unified and everyone has to want it. If we do that, then the conference is a goal that we can achieve.”
After tasting success last postseason, the goal is to keep pushing into October and early November, with the building blocks to achieve that goal put into place.
“There’s no stopping us,” Wood said. “I feel like if we keep doing what we’re doing and everyone knowing their role and executing it, we can do a lot with this team. I feel like this is one the best teams we’ve had in my tenure with these boys. I’m just happy, I’m excited. I can’t wait for more to come.”
