Boys sectional soccer: Columbia's magical season ends with loss to Rootstown

ROOTSTOWN — Columbia's season came to an end Saturday with a 3-2 sectional semifinal loss to Rootstown.The Rovers struck quickly, taking the lead six minutes in through Zach Pastor, who dribbled past multiple Raiders and found the far corner for the lead.Rootstown dominated the first half, limiting Columbia's attacking threat and putting plenty of pressure on Evan Joreski's goal."It was not great soccer by either team," Columbia coach Frank Washburn said. "The small field was a real disadvantage for us, but we picked it up and forced some mistakes."Joreski made a number of saves in the first half to keep the Rovers lead to one, but their pressure was eventually rewarded as Pastor bundled home Bryson Scarlett's cross to double the Rovers' advantage five minutes before the break.After a first half in which they had clearly been second best, something needed to change for the Raiders in the second half.Luckily, Washburn had the answer, as he pushed Jack Washburn further forward and dropped Haroon Shakib deeper into midfield to give the latter more room to operate and allow the former to put more direct pressure on the Rootstown defense."We've been doing that all year," Frank Washburn said. "Jack seemed to have a little bit more composure on the ball, because they didn't do anything in the back except put four guys on him. And Haroon needs a little bit more space."The change worked wonders, as Columbia grew into the game in the second half and got on the board with 20 minutes to play when a Washburn free kick was spilled by Rootstown goalkeeper Noah Zager and Lance Murray buried the loose ball to give Columbia a lifeline.It only took seven minutes for Columbia to find the equalizer, with Washburn creating another goal by chipping the ball over the top to Shakib, who poked it away from Zager and finished into an empty net to tie the game with 13 minutes to go.Unfortunately for the Raiders, there was one more twist. With just over three minutes to go, Joreski came out to challenge for a loose ball and clattered into Pastor, giving the Rovers a penalty and a chance to take the lead in the final minutes.Pastor sent Joreski the wrong way and completed his hat trick to put Rootstown ahead for good, and three minutes later, one of Columbia's best seasons in program history came to an end.Despite the disappointing finish, the season was hugely successful for the Raiders, who finished with a 16-3 record. It was the most wins for the Raiders since the 2015-16 season."If you had told me at the beginning of the season that we would have this many wins, I wouldn't have believed you," Frank Washburn said. "We got some good luck, we made our own luck, and even though we have a lot of juniors and seniors, we've got a lot of immature guys that don't play a lot of soccer. For us to come out with that many wins, most of it comes down to hard work."Contact Will Cunningham at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.Rootstown 3, Columbia 2GOALS: (C) Lance Murray (60th minute), Haroon Shakib (67th minute); (R) Zach Pastor (6th minute, 35th minute, 77th minute)ASSISTS: (C) Jack Washburn; (R) Bryson ScarlettSAVES: (C) Evan Joreski 6; (R) Noah Zager 5SHOTS ON GOAL: Columbia 9; Rootstown 9FOULS: Columbia 6; Rootstown 11CORNER KICKS: Rootstown 2OFFISIDE: Rootstown 6YELLOW CARD: (C) Lance MurrayHALFTIME: Rootstown, 2-0