Ontario knocks off Clear Fork, sets up possible three-way tie for MOAC title

ONTARIO — Ontario boys soccer coach Steve Armstrong might just be the biggest Clear Fork fan moving forward.

In fact, all of the Warriors may want to think about sporting a little green in their attire. After the Warriors beat Clear Fork 3-0 on Tuesday night, they now need the Colts to beat River Valley on Oct. 8 in order to knock the Vikings out of the top spot in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference standings. The Vikings beat Ontario 3-1 on Aug. 27 and look like they will cruise through the rest of the MOAC until a big showdown at Clear Fork in a month.

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"I live in Bellville and I love Clear Fork and in October, when they play River Valley, we will obviously be cheering for them pretty hard," Armstrong said. "That would create a three-way tie. I wish we wouldn't have to worry about that and took care of business in the first place, but we still have a chance."

The Warriors took care of business on Tuesday night shutting out the Colts as both teams now sit in second place in the league standings.

The Warriors got three goals from three different players as Jace Young, Evan Ruhe and Gavin Wagner each sent shots to the back of the net. Xander Chitwood and Logan Bernat had one assist apiece. The Warriors have 11 goals on the season and five different goal-scorers.

"We thought coming into the season we would struggle to score goals," Armstrong said. "Scoring by committee was going to be how we do things and the guys are executing our set pieces and corner kicks which is great to see. I am proud of the way these guys are progressing."

Young's goal came with 8:14 left in the first half and proved to be the difference maker. It was his first goal of the season joining four other teammates.

"We can be super dangerous," Young said. "Our set pieces, everyone is a threat. You cannot just man-mark one person because we have a lot of dangerous people who can score out there. It is great for us."

The Colts came out in the second half looking to erase Ontario's 2-0 lead and started firing shot after shot. In all, the Colts (1-4-1) put five shots on goal an took 12 total along with six corner kicks. They gave themselves a chance but just couldn't find the back of the net.

"So far it is the story," Clear Fork coach Nate Gailey said. "We just aren't finding the back of the net. I told the boys that there is nothing to be ashamed of. That was the type of team we have been striving to be all year and if that is the team that plays in some of our previous games, there would be a different outcome. Looking forward, that is the team I expect to show up every single night."

Hayden Wilson collected eight saves in goal for the Colts. Despite the loss, the Colts still control their own MOAC championship destiny. Assuming they take care of business against Pleasant, Harding and Highland in the coming weeks, they can claim a share of the league championship by beating River Valley, so there is a lot to keep playing for.

"It sets up an interesting matchup against River Valley," Gailey said. "It stinks that it might be a three-way tie, but the big picture I am trying to paint for the guys is while we did suffer a loss tonight, we still have a chance to share that title and that means a lot to them."

The Warriors (3-2-1) fired 12 shots on goal with nine more just off target. Keeper Ayden Wagoner had five saves to preserve the shutout in a must-win game.

"We knew coming into this game, we had to beat them to even give ourselves a chance," Young said. "Now, we need someone to knock off River Valley and hopefully it is Clear Fork. A three-way tie isn't what we wanted, but we will still consider it a win. It is the best we can hope for at this point."

The Warriors still have to play Galion, Pleasant, Harding and Highland, teams that went into Tuesday night a combined 2-10-3, in MOAC contests. Every conference game is a must-win for the Warriors from here on out.

"Pregame, we kept talking about having a conference mentality," Armstrong said. "One of our goals this year was to win the conference and even though we laid an egg in the River Valley game, we gave ourselves a chance. We didn't have a choice today. One of our other goals is to win all of our home games to it was a double-whammy. We needed to win this to give ourselves a chance in the conference and defend our home turf."

The Warriors host Norwalk on Saturday in a huge game for postseason seeding implications while Clear Fork is back at it on Thursday at home against Mansfield Senior.

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ontario knocks off Clear Fork, sets up possible three-way tie for MOAC title