Auburn Riverside soccer bounces back, downs Lancers

Since the pandemic, the Auburn Riverside girls soccer team has lost just two home games and has a record of 31-2-1 over its last 34 home games.

In its most recent game against Kennedy Catholic on Oct. 1, it looked like that record was going to have another rare home loss. But the Ravens showed the class that this year’s squad possesses — and overcame a two-goal first half deficit to win 4-3 against the Lancers.

“I felt like we played a bad five minutes, but a really good 60 minutes, and then at the very end we just kind of let them grab the momentum a little bit…It was too adventurous and I hate it,” Manager Paul Lewis said after the win.

Kennedy is off to a great start this season — the Lancers were right with the Ravens, Kentridge and Kentwood for a battle at the top of the league.

The Lancers sprinted out to a blistering fast start, drawing a foul and cashing in on the free kick by Kaya Singh from 30 yards out. Lewis was a bit upset with this goal, more than he normally is, because the Ravens allowed the Lancers to be uber aggressive early because of the kickoff strategy that invited Lancer pressure and allowed the them to create chaos, Lewis noted.

Junior captain Harper Curnutt took responsibility for the first goal, but her coach made sure that she wasn’t the real reason the Ravens fell behind early.

“I do take accountability… We went: Pass back, pass back, which I think led to the foul,” Curnutt said.

“I’m not going to let Harper take the blame for that one. She’s a great captain so she’s going to do that,” Lewis said, backing up his captain.

Just two minutes later ,Kennedy’s Jayden Fitzgerald got free down the left side of the field and used her breakaway speed to get past Raven defender Layla Bejar. Her shot beat Sydney Winters and before the Ravens could even blink, they were down 2-0.

“It was a hard, frustrating start. I’m proud of the team for getting back in it,” Curnutt said.

Lewis had planned for Kennedy to have an attack like that, which frustrated him and his team because that was a preventable goal in their eyes.

“The second goal was worse because it was something we talked about in practice yesterday. We had a plan and they did it, but we did not execute the plan… Jayden Fitzgerald terrorized us for the first five to ten minutes, she did a tremendous job,” Lewis said.

Instead of caving, the Ravens stood tall and dug in. On a corner kick in the eighth minute, Stella Beyersdorf hit a corner that deflected back to her and she lofted a perfect shot just outside the 18-yard box for the Ravens’ first goal of the game. She gave out a scream to fire her side up — that was just what they needed.

“Stella is our girl… She is the person you hear every play, hyping everybody up. It really gives us the momentum to go. I love Stella,” Curnutt said.

From that moment forward, the Ravens seemed to settle in. In the 22nd minute, Caitlyn Riggs made her impact on the game. She took the ball away from the Lancers and sent a perfect pass to Harper Curnutt for the equalizing goal.

Once the two goal gap disappeared, the Ravens showed their prowess. The midfielders were able to control the game much more. Bejar played mistake-free soccer and Riverside was searching for that killer instinct on the top line. The answer was Caitlyn Riggs. She drew a penalty, made the penalty and gave Auburn Riverside a lead in a game that looked like Riverside might have been run off the field early.

“The way we started, surprised me. The way we responded so quickly also surprised me. I knew we would respond, but I thought ‘Oh that was fast, we are already up two,’” Lewis said.

As a matter of fact, the Ravens weren’t even done in the first half. In the 31st minute, Curnutt drilled a shot from outside the 18-yard box for a 4-2 lead.

“Confidence can be a hard thing in soccer. But when I am surrounded by these girls, it definitely helps. They are always there for me,” Curnutt said.

Kennedy plays an aggressive style of soccer, a very physical team seemed to rise to another level in the second half.

The Lancers were making life uncomfortable for the Ravens, putting lots of pressure on the back line for the majority of the 40 minutes. The Lancers were able to pull the game to within one on a penalty shot in the 68th minute after a questionable call against Bejar on a foul that looked like she got the ball in the challenge.

Singh went to Winters’ right and that was the last scoring either side had, and Auburn Riverside was able to keep all three points.

The Ravens travel to the set of the film “10 Things I Hate About You” to take on the Stadium Tigers, and for Curnutt, if the first game of a week goes well, the second will follow suit.

“In the week when you have two hard and intense games, and you play well in the first one, you keep it going and the momentum flows through. We’re gonna be ready for Thursday and keep the streak going,” Curnutt said.

Stadium beat the Ravens in the district semifinal game last season 2-1.

“They are going to be a team that is going to completely battle. Maybe there is a little juice still there from last year,” Lewis said.

Lewis has stated how deep the 4A NPSL is and how it is going to be a gauntlet all year long. There are six legit teams that could make a state tournament run, but only five will make the district tournament. Auburn Riverside getting three points is huge for the long term.