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Ashland, Crater share the spoils By Danny Penza Updated: Oct 12, 2022 10:39 PM A A 5 View all photos Grizzlies score second-half penalty kick to pull even in hard-fought Midwestern League matchup CENTRAL POINT — Over the past decade, the Ashland boys soccer team has rarely had to play from behind when facing Crater. That was, however, the situation the Grizzlies found themselves in Wednesday night. In a hard-fought game between the two Midwestern League rivals, it was a pair of goals from the penalty spot that stood tall. The second of those, from Ashland junior forward Cash Cota, allowed the Grizzlies to pull even with the host Comets midway through the second half in what proved to be a 1-1 draw at Dutch Meyer Field. “It was an odd one, for sure,” said Cota of chasing the lead against Crater. “We dealt with it and we’re not necessarily a first-half team. We’re more of a second half kind of team. Overcoming that adversity always, especially here at Crater, is never an easy thing.” Entering Wednesday’s game, Ashland held a 20-game unbeaten streak against Crater, according figures from MaxPreps and the Oregon School Activities Association website. Nineteen of those 20 games were Ashland wins, with the Grizzlies most recently picking up a 2-0 win over the Comets last season. Crater (4-1-3, 1-0-1 MWL), however, was more than game right from the start and was playing like a team that has found a nice midseason rhythm with the start of league play. Crater entered the night on a four-game unbeaten run that stretched back to a scoreless draw with Phoenix on Sept. 16. Since then, the Comets have won three straight, including their league opener against Churchill this past Saturday in Eugene. And the Comets certainly played like a confident bunch against the Grizzlies (3-3-2, 1-0-1). Crater held Ashland without a shot for the first 15 minutes, with the Comets executing their plan about as well as they could have hoped for from the start. “(Ashland) played really high up and we have a lot of speed up top, so it allowed us to play over the top and create a lot of chances on goal,” said Crater senior midfielder/forward Cooper Hopkins. “That helped us and we have the kind of personnel to go over the top, so it was good for the whole team.” The Comets were able to strike first in the 21st minute with Hopkins in the middle of it all. Hopkins was able to win the ball in the Ashland penalty box before getting fouled from behind a split-second later to earn the penalty kick. There was no doubt in who was taking it, as Hopkins stepped up to the spot and slotted his shot to the right home as Ashland keeper Mateo Moore guessed the wrong way. “We just came to play,” said Hopkins. “We’ve played them a lot of times, so we knew what it was going to be like — back and forth, back and forth, back and forth with a lot of running. The balls over the top was what was working and we countered them right off the bat.” Ashland was able to increase the pressure after that, but the Grizzlies weren’t totally firing on all cylinders offensively. They had an 8-4 advantage in terms of shots in the first half, but many of those attempts were either off target or blocked by a Comets defender. “We came out with a game plan to really go after the first half, and we did that,” said Crater head coach Jason Tester. “We got a little on our heels and played a little off in the second half and they capitalized on it. The little bit of physical play out there kinda got the game off from what the original plan was, but in the end we gritted it out and we really had some great opportunities there at the end.” Ashland was able to pull even 19 minutes into the second half courtesy of Cota’s penalty kick. But it wasn’t as routine as the penalty kick that Hopkins successfully converted, even though it was won at nearly the same spot in the box as Crater’s PK. That’s because he had to take the shot twice. Cota finished the first shot into the top-left corner, but it was ruled that one of his Ashland teammates had made his way into the box early as both teams were set to crash the goal. Because of that, Cota had to take a second shot, this time sending it to the right to tie things up. “I’ve never had to take a second one again,” Cota admitted. “I thought our energy was low in the first half and we couldn’t connect any passes. In the second half, we all picked up the energy because we wanted to get back and we didn’t want to lose.” Crater nearly reclaimed the lead less than two minutes later. Gabe Grant was on the receiving end of a great cross into the box off a free kick, but Moore flew to his right at full extension to make the save and push the ball out for a corner kick. “That was unbelievable,” Ashland head coach Abdiaziz Guled said of Moore’s save as a smile came across his face. “We just got down 1-0, and as (assistant coach Andy Pyle) said, ‘let’s get going,’ and we wanted more from the boys. We said whoever is going to want it more is going to win tonight.” Representative of how even the game was, Ashland finished with a slight edge in shots at 14-12. Moore finished with four saves, while Crater keeper Diego Estrada made three saves. “It was a hard-fought game both ways,” said Hopkins. “I thought it was pretty equal and I felt like both teams did a great job.” Reach reporter Danny Penza at 541-776-4469 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @penzatopaper. Ashland's Luke Reddish and Crater's Cooper Hopkins fight for the ball during the 2nd half at Dutch Meyer Field in Central Point Wednesday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Ashland's Luke Reddish and Crater's Jesse Ruvalcaba fight for the ball during the 1st half at Dutch Meyer Field in Central Point Wednesday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Ashland's Mario Jacobson take the ball away from Crater's Cooper Hopkins during the 2nd half at Dutch Meyer Field in Central Point Wednesday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Ashland's Cash Cota shoots for a goal during the 2nd half at Dutch Meyer Field in Central Point Wednesday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Ashland's goal keeper Mateo Moore clears the ball off a free kick during the 2nd half at Dutch Meyer Field in Central Point Wednesday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]