CLEVELAND, Ohio. - Amish Country United (1-0-2) was defeated by The City of Ohio SC (2-0-1) by a score of 3-1 on Saturday night, May 28 at St. Ignatius High School. The loss was ACU's second this season, but it was a hard fought game in a fun atmosphere with plenty of fans in attendance.
Amish Country United traveled to Cleveland with a large roster and a deep bench to face off with NOSL North Division powerhouse City of Ohio. From the kickoff, the Amish controlled the ball well and actually outplayed the hosts in the first twenty or so minutes of the first half. The breakthrough came directly after City goalkeeper Gavin Leindecker was sent off for saving Andy Miller's shot with his hand outside the penalty area. Logan Schrock's shot off the resulting free kick was saved by stand-in keeper Cory Gilbert but right into the path of ACU defender Isaac Troyer, who smashed the ball home to pick up a goal in his debut and give the visitors the 1-0 advantage.
Things were looking good for Amish Country, being both a goal and a man up. However, The City of Ohio began to outplay their opponents and found the equalizer not too long before halftime as a ball bobbling around in the box was headed in by Danny Ruple to make it 1-1 going into the half.
Amish Country United came out in the second half and pressed for the go-ahead goal, but it unfortunately came for the home team. Patrick Brightbill, a perennial thorn in Amish Country's side from his Accipiter days, fired from outside the box toward goal. The ball took a nasty ricochet off of an ACU defender and snuck between goalkeeper Brant Klink's outstretched hand and the post to make it 2-1 to City of Ohio. The hosts got a third goal late in the game as Kabiona Ramhedani cleverly found his way in on goal to finish. In the waning minutes, The City of Ohio won a penalty but Matt Nigro's shot was nicely saved by Klink. Unfortunately, Klink hurt his shoulder on the play and was replaced in goal by Andy Miller, who saw out the final few minutes until the ref blew his whistle for full time.
The Amish are back in action next Saturday, June 4 as they travel to South Division rival Team Vulpine for an 11:00 a.m. kickoff with the Foxes at Triway High School.
