Aces Play to Hard-Fought Draw Against Radnor

Long time rivals, hard-nosed play, and a sudden death overtime battle for Main Line bragging rights: Wednesday's varsity soccer match between the Radnor Red Raiders and Lower Merion Aces had all the makings of an all-time classic, and on a beautiful afternoon in Ardmore, the evenly-matched squads played to a hard-fought 1-1 draw in the Aces' second Central League contest.  

Peter Donato put the Red Raiders on top 1-0 with a header that resulted from out of position Aces keeper Emmett McConnell. McConnell was unable to reach a free kick from 30 yards out and was stranded in no-man's land when a sequence of headers led the ball to Donato, all alone in the box for a free header and the first goal scored against the Aces in 2010.

Lower Merion (3-0-1) thought they had the equalizer three minutes later. David Rosenfeld found Kenny Lassiter streaking toward goal with a left-footed cross, and Lassiter volleyed it into the back of the net with a left-footed volley of his own. The sophomore midfielder was ruled offside, though, much to the chagrin of a boisterous Aces crowd.

The Aces finally netted the equalizer with 30 minutes remaining in the match, as Michael Lemonick produced a game-tying header off a strong throw-in from Nate Diehl. The senior muscled his way into position in the box and punched a sharp header into the corner of the net. Lemonick's throw-ins have led to several goals for the Aces this season, but his role reversal gave him his first goal of the year and the Aces their most important score to date. The final half hour of regulation passed with few scoring opportunities, forcing the game to be decided by two sudden-death periods of ten minutes each. 

The Red Raiders threatened first in the opening period of overtime. A long free kick from Charlie Rubin sailed toward a crowd of would-be Radnor heroes, but punched it out of the box at the last instant to thwart the potential game-winner. McConnell came up big again in the second extra session, stopping a header from Donato a minute into the second overtime.

Rosenfeld nearly won it for the Aces a minute later. When Matias Fernandez-Duque was taken down illegally, Lower Merion was awarded a free kick from just outside the box. Rosenfeld bent it around the wall, but his shot curled just over the crossbar, giving Radnor an extra life.

Neither team had much in the way of scoring chances in the first half. The first legitimate opportunity came 24 minutes into the game, when Lemonick found Colin Eisenstaedt with one of his trademark throw-ins, this one from around 40 yards out, but Eisenstaedt's sharp header was saved by a diving Kyle Furtaw, whose valiant play in goal saved the Red Raiders from defeat on a number of occasions.

Aces head coach Nico Severini was thankful to escape with a draw, but seemed somewhat displeased with his team's performance after the game.

"I guess you could say it was intense," he said. "I don't know. It is what it is."

Lower Merion has five days off before traveling to take on Central League rival Conestoga at 7 p.m. next Tuesday.