North Springs, Riverwood Split In Region 5A-AAA Soccer Opener

In a heated meeting between cross-town rivals and Region 5A-AAA opponents, the North Springs boys’ soccer team delivered the final blow in a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Riverwood on Thursday night.

With 8:22 left in the contest, Jonny Resiendiz helped lift host North Springs to victory with a left-footed blast into the upper-right corner of the goal. The Spartans held on to the victory from there, improving to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the league opener.

“I just saw the open goal, went inside and took the shot,” said Resiendiz.

Eythor Einarsson took a throw-in and dribbled to the middle to find Resiendiz, who side-stepped a defender for the shot attempt. His teammates piled on top of him after the go-ahead goal before running to the sideline for an enthusiastic celebration near the bench.

Riverwood took the lead with a goal at the 25:02 mark of the first half, and continually challenged the North Springs defense. But the Spartans tightened up and thwarted the Raiders attack, getting a huge boost with an equalizer from Valfred Caberea with just 1:12 left in the first half.

Even as the second half wore on with no scoring, the intensity increased with physical play building up to the game-winning score.

“It was really intense,” Resiendiz said. “I have friends on the other team coming at me real hard. So I went out there and gave everything I had and everything came out great.”

Riverwood had several opportunities, but no shots on goal, in the final minutes despite its tenacious play and several clears from North Springs.

“The defense really stepped up,” Komar said. “(Riverwood) scored that goal in the first half. Then our defense, with Charlie Sanders and Pepe (Flores) and Elvis (Flores) and Juan (Mencias), just absolutely controlled the back.”

With several starters and a key reserve out injured, the Spartans were able to hold off a strong Riverwood side.

“It’s like I told them after the game, they won together as a team,” said North Springs head coach Marc Komar. “They played together as a team, they passed the ball and they controlled the game.”

Riverwood, which endured a brutal early-season schedule, next meets St. Pius at home on Tuesday in a region affair. North Springs will face Chamblee on Tuesday in a non-league contest.

Riverwood Girls Blank North Springs, 3-0

Riverwood got the best of its rival in the opening game of the night, as the Lady Raiders blanked North Springs 3-0.

Riverwood (3-3, 1-0 5A-AAA) used an early goal to take a lead it would not surrender, as Callie Johnson found the net just 10 minutes into the game. From there, Riverwood continued to control the pace of the contest.

The Lady Raiders got a second-half goal from Erin Woodruff with an assist from Callie Johnson. Later, Rebecca Proschansky capped off the scoring, posting a goal 1:02 left.

Though his team found itself leading early and never allowed North Springs (2-3, 0-1 5A-AAA) to put the outcome in doubt, Riverwood head coach Donald Macoy saw much his team can improve on as region play moves forward.

“Starting region play, it’s always good to come out and get a win to open things up,” Macoy said. “There are a few little things that we worked on that we didn’t execute as well as I would have liked, so we’ve got a good bit of work to do to get ready for the rest of the region.”

North Springs was more assertive in the second half and had several offensive chances after Riverwood’s second score. In the Lady Spartans’ best look at the goal all night, Lina Boe missed wide on an attempt that would have drawn North Springs to within a goal midway through the second half.

“She made her way down, she placed it where it needed to be, it was just inches off,” said North Springs head coach Samantha Jones.

The Lady Spartans’ first-year coach thought both teams came out a bit flat for a rivalry game.

“I thought we were focused in the warm-up,” Jones said. “They were ready to play their rival and they were pumped and ready to go. I didn’t have to do much pumping up. But we came out and I think both teams looked a bit slow in the beginning. Getting scored on in the first 10 minutes in soccer -- it’s always tough to come back from that.”