Perkins, Edison still tied at top of SBC

MILAN TWP. — Edison embraced the role of underdog. The Chargers entered Monday's massive Sandusky Bay Conference boys soccer contest against Perkins with an undefeated record, just like the Pirates. After a scoreless first half, fireworks filled the first 15 minutes of the second half. Alex Davidson scored his second goal of the night with 17 minutes to go as Edison and Perkins battled to a 3-3 tie. "My boys just showed up," Edison coach Nate Leimeister said. "The excitement, the enjoyment, everything that they brought, they left on the field. That's a really good team over there and we showed that we belonged. We're Division IV, they're Division III. "We ain't going to see them again, but we're a good team." Edison is now 13-0-1 overall while Perkins is 10-0-2. Both teams sit at 7-0-1 in league play with three matches to go. "I don't think they won it. I do think we lost it," Perkins coach Paul Lea said. "We had way more good opportunities to put the game away and we didn't take them. We had five or six really good chances to finish. I think if we play that game 10 more times, we win nine of them. "Really frustrated and you can tell it by the attitude and demeanor of the players that we're pretty upset." Both teams had chances in the first half, but Edison's Kaden Mees and Perkins' Danny Buga were up to the challenge in goal. The second half was a different story for both offenses. It took just 45 seconds for the scoring explosion to begin. Davidson scored his 44th goal of the season to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead. The Pirates weren't deterred as Anthony Bonica gave Titus Normington-Slay a perfect cross to tie the game at 1 less than five minutes later. "We wanted to keep playing the way we were playing," said Lea of the scoreless first 40 minutes. "I thought we were the better team. We created more opportunities in the first half and I figured that was going to be the same and it was. They got the early goal and that can change momentum." Edison came right back as Jose Serna Amaya rushed past his defender as Buga tried to beat him to the ball. Serna Amaya was there first and headed the shot past Buga into the open net for a 2-1 advantage with 32:20 remaining. Perkins quickly responded as Kaden Camp tied the game again about three minutes later. The Pirates then surged ahead for the first time. Perkins kept pushing and Grant Hickman was able to take a rebound and rocket a laser past Mees with 25:06 left. Edison kept fighting. With time ticking away, the Chargers were able to make a push and Davidson's second goal of the match and 45th of the season evened the game at 3 with 17:05 to go. "That was huge," Leimeister said. "Alex has been bringing it every game all season. The captains have and the seniors have." Both teams had opportunities the rest of the way and the Pirates threatened late. Mees was able to turn away two tough shots by Normington-Slay and one from Camp with about 90 seconds to play, saving the tie for the Chargers. "I think they call it standing on his head," Leimeister said. "Kaden showed that he belonged on this team. He's our keeper and they love him." Perkins was clearly not happy with the tie. The Pirates have won four straight SBC titles and won a district championship last year, returning 12 seniors to this year's team. "They feel like they won and we feel like we've lost," Lea said. "If we played them again tomorrow, I think it would be a different story. We gave them two golden opportunities and they took their chances. Just a really frustrating performance." Perkins hosts Huron on Wednesday, hosts Northwood on Monday and travels to Norwalk next Wednesday to wrap up league play. "(Holland) Springfield is the only other team that we've played where we were down," Lea said. "We were able to come back and tie that one. It was a couple mistakes that gifted (Edison) a result, really. We're pretty upset with ourselves because if we were a little bit more clinical in front of the goal and crisp with our communication, then maybe we don't give them those opportunities." Edison still has SBC contests at Port Clinton (Wednesday), at home against Sandusky (Monday) and at Vermilion (next Wednesday) in hopes of claiming its first league championship since 2020. "We have to keep playing our game and keep our momentum going into the last three," Leimeister said. "We're undefeated still and we want to finish the season undefeated. Then we want to go into the playoffs and make a run as far as we can. "This program has never seen anything like that."