Staff photo / Brian Yauger Grand Valley junior Nicolas Johnson, left, tries to muscle out Bristol’s Danny Sigler for possession of the ball during Wednesday’s game against the Panthers.
BRISTOLVILLE — Grand Valley wanted it.
After falling to Bristol earlier in the year, the Mustangs weren’t about to let that happen again.
Controlling pace for much of the game, Grand Valley got shots to fall when it counted in a 3-0 victory over the Panthers.
The Mustangs took some lumps this season. Two of those were losses to league rivals Badger and Bristol in back-to-back games earlier in September.
In the four games since those losses, Grand Valley has won its games by a combined 14-1 margin.
Grand Valley head coach Rick Huffman is hoping that those defeats served as a turning point for his team.
Taking down a Bristol team that had its way with them for 40 minutes of their first meeting is a good start to that.
“We had a game with Badger and we felt like we played them well (despite the loss). We, as a high school, we’ve never beaten them ever, so they get this thing in their head and they respect them, and they get intimidated, and they just don’t play as well as they’re capable of playing,” Huffman said. “That stung. And then follow that up and come right and play Bristol next at home. … We were getting pushed around, and we went down 4-0, then we battled back in the second and it was 4-3, and we just ran out of time. We had them on the ropes.
“We like to get smacked. We like to get punched in the mouth, figuratively, and then we start playing. If we could just get that for the full 80 minutes, it would make a difference. Today, they were amped. They knew the last game, they let Bristol get away with one. They knew it, and they wanted to come. … We changed some formations, changed some guys around.”
The adjustments worked.
Senior Dax Ponn scored a pair of goals for the Mustangs, and junior Anthony Eason capped the game off with a third goal for Grand Valley.
The victory pushes Grand Valley to 7-3 on the season. Bristol falls to 7-4.
“They came to play today,” Panthers coach Cory Schrecengost said. “Since we played them, there’s been some stuff, and they came to play. They were ready, we were not ready today. I talked to the boys beforehand, and we just weren’t ready to play, but we’ll get back to it tomorrow. We’ve got homecoming on Friday against Heartland Christian, then we’ll just finish out the rest of the season strong.”
The Mustangs host rival Pymatuning Valley on Tuesday.
As the postseason approaches, Grand Valley’s focus is on reaching that full 80-minute effort. A big win in a big game is that first step.
“We’ve just somehow got to manage how to put the whole 80 minutes together and do what we need to do, so that’s our plan,” Huffman said. “This was a good stepping point today to get us ready, emotionally and mentally, some of that, to understand a big game and understand what it’s like to win a big game. Couldn’t be more proud of them today. Really cannot. They’ve done an absolutely great job.”