Beachwood Boys Soccer Advances to District Tournament

Brock Hersch scored Beachwood’s only goal off a corner kick in the first half and the Bison defense locked down Harvey to preserve a 1-0 win in the sectional final.

“Normally on a corner you’re not trying to kick it in,” Hersch said. “I knew the wind was going to take it, I didn’t know which way or how far.”

The rain and wind muddying the field conditions made scoring chances hard to come by, so Hersch created his own with the corner kick. Trying to feed it into the box for a teammate to finish, Harvey’s goalie came out to field the ball when the wind got hold of the it and hooked the shot into the net.

“When you play in sloppy conditions like that every goal is going to be unconventional,” Beachwood coach Brian Greene said.

Harvey had their opportunities to tie the game up but they could not get a shot by Blake Atherton, who notched another shutout with nine saves.

“The defense stepped up,” Greene said. “These guys have been solid all year; we haven’t given up many goals.”

Beachwood advances to the district semifinals on Monday and will face either top seeded Chagrin Falls or Lake Catholic at 7 p.m.

“It’s just nice to win,” Greene said. “We haven’t been to districts in awhile. These boys have worked hard all year and I’m just glad the score held up today.”