Walters’ Heroics Send Black Bears to Boys Soccer Regional Final

ZANESVILLE, OH

It’s been another phenomenal season for River View boys soccer., so let’s go down the checklist, shall we? Unbeaten MVL regular season? Check. MVL big school title? Check. And now, next on the list is to get back to the regional final round. But first the Black Bears had to go through Beaver Local.

Now, River View was looking to knock off the unbeaten Beavers. But in the first half, it’s those Beavers that strike first. Ethan Wood gets around his defender and then Brayden Price does the rest, and it’s a 1-0 lead for Beaver Local. Nearing the end of the first half however., and here come the Black Bears. It’s Hayden Walters with the ball across. and the simplest of tap-ins from Parker Andrews, and it’s a 1-1 game headed into halftime.

River View attacking in the second half, and we’re headed to the penalty spot after the handball in the box. Golden opportunity now for the Black Bears. But how about Hunter Warrick, he has other ideas saving the game for Beaver Local. So we had the overtime, tied at 1, and that’s where Walters is going to find himself in the right place at the right time for River View, and the celebration is on! River View wins it, 2-1, in overtime to head to the regional final, with Walters playing the hero when River View needed him most.

“I mean, my teammates put me in that position and played a great ball. The defender made an unfortunate mistake, but I was there to pounce” said Walters. “I mean, we’ve been we’ve been there all night. We had so many shots on goal, it just wasn’t falling for us. But I made sure to send us on to the regional final.”

He continued, “I mean, it’s unspeakable. I mean, not many people can say they sent their team to the regional final game winning goal in overtime. I mean, we’ve worked since June 1st for this. So I mean, it just…it was unspeakable.”