History makers: River Valley claims Marion County's first MOAC soccer championship

CALEDONIA — The Vikings won the Iberia Cup and a whole lot more Tuesday night.

River Valley easily downed an undermanned Galion squad 6-0 to take home the traveling trophy between the two programs that is named for the village halfway between the schools on Ohio 309.

More so, the Vikings earned their first conference championship in boys soccer. In fact, it's the first earned by a Marion County team — boys or girls — since the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference began soccer standings in 2014.

"It means a lot for our program because nobody has won a league title, so we’re trying to be the first to do it," River Valley senior Hudson Pollock said after a four-goal, one-assist night.

Added fellow senior Rylan Smith, "It’s nice to go out with a bang."

How did the Vikings get the title?

River Valley is now 12-2 overall and 5-0 in the MOAC as Riley Hummel and Gideon Owings backed Pollock with a goal and an assist each against Galion. Ian Burns added an assist, and Cooper Mullins had four saves relieving starting keeper J.R. Bates for the second half. All six goals came in the first half as RV head coach Joel Richards went to the bench for the second 40 minutes.

Right behind RV in the MOAC standings are Ontario at 6-2-3, 4-1 and Clear Fork at 6-7-1, 4-1.

"Beating Ontario proved we belong," Richards said, referring to their 3-1 victory earlier in the year..

The Vikings were the first team to defeat Ontario in an MOAC match since it joined the league in 2017. It was from that Aug. 27 match that the Vikes began thinking of themselves differently.

"I don’t believe we’ve ever beaten Ontario. I think it was after that game that we realized we can actually do this and win a league title," Pollock said.

Video: River Valley's Hudson Pollock talks about working on his kicking game

More about Pollock: Week 7 Football: River Valley kicker Hudson Pollock putting 'special' into special teams

How did the Vikings overcome adversity to win it?

Since that victory over Ontario, they've won 10 of their last 11 matches. However, the last nine have come without Christian Knight, the high-scoring senior captain who tore ligaments in his knee. And that injury came after they lost Harry Lee to a knee injury late in the preseason.

"It’s the next-man-up mentality," Smith said. "Everyone’s ready to play. We’ve had a lot of wingers and defense coming through. We’ve had a few lineup swaps. We knew (losing) Chris was going to be a big blow, but we just adapted."

That's how Pollock sees it.

"We all came together and worked as one," he said. "Like Rylan said, it was next man up. One person goes down, we can’t think about it for the whole season. The next person has to be ready to play."

Lee, a sophomore, was a talented midfielder with a never-quit motor. Knight had nine goals in his first five matches before going down.

"In May, I kind of jinxed them because I said the only real injury we’ve taken was in my first year when Mason Snyder broke his foot in the last game of the season," the fourth-year head coach said. "Harry’s was in a non-contact drill, and Christian took a bad challenge at an away game. We hoped for the best there. He tried to play one game, but he wasn’t himself. It’s a full ACL tear and MCL tear."

With the injuries, Richards admits they've taken new approaches to adapt.

"Some of those closer games, we’ll get a couple of goals and sit back and play defense," Richards said. "That’s all we need to do. If it’s a closer game, I need to trust Rylan, Wyatt (Lawhun), J.R. and Aiden (Jordan) and Cooper (Mullins). Our two unsung heroes are Coben Reser and Caleb Strother (in the midfield)."

What's next for RV?

The Vikings play at Fairbanks Thursday in a match that could impact Sunday's tournament draw as RV is now Division IV in the OHSAA's new classifications.

Then on Tuesday they go to Clear Fork where a win clinches an outright title or a loss could lead to a three-way tie between RV, CF and Ontario.

"I think we think of it as a winner-take-all kind of thing," Pollock said of their mindset upcoming at Clear Fork. "We can’t start slow. We’ve got to be ready to play because they’re really good. We’ve just got to be ready to play and hopefully it works well."

Smith was more matter of fact.

"Personally, I’m not going in for a tie. We’re in it to win it," he said.

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: History makers: River Valley claims Marion County's first MOAC soccer championship