59ers hold on to beat Panthers

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GRIFFITH -- With the rivalry between Griffith and Andrean and the fact that both teams came into the match with unbeaten conference records, one would expect this to be a hard-fought battle. Neither team disappointed, as Andrean held off Griffith 2-1 Wednesday in Northwest Crossroads Conference boys soccer action.

"Too close of a game, we got an early goal and held them off thanks in part to the great play of our defense," said Andrean coach Pete Reist. "Our defense has played tremendous all season allowing no more than one goal and that is a credit to them."

Andrean did not waste any time as they notched the first goal of the game at the 2:30 mark of the match, thanks to Kyle Otte's slow dribbler that sneaked past the goalkeeper to give the 59ers the 1-0 lead.

Griffith mounted a strong offensive attack, keeping Andrean on defense for most of the first half, but could not get the ball into the net.

Griffith attacked the goal aggressively toward the end of the half, but Andrean and goalkeeper John Gore held off the attack to end the first with Andrean on top 1-0.

Andrean extended its lead when junior Tony Arvin drove a hard shot past the extended Griffith goalkeeper at the 56th minute of the match.

Griffith finally got on the board when Matt Plawecki took a throw in from Jeff Melton to sneak it past the Andrean goalkeeper in the 63rd minute of the match to bring the Panthers within one.

Griffith tried to find the net one more time, but it was the Andrean defense, along with Gore, holding off the final surge to secure the victory.

"We made an early mistake that cost us a goal and we then settled in trading goals with them. "It was a hard fought game," said Griffith coach Ron Knestrict. "It was a big match for both of us, we were both prepared they just came out on top tonight."