DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
WAYNEDALE – Freshman striker Blake Graham scored a brace to lead the Wayne Generals to a 4-0 victory Thursday against Bellmont.
Delayed by a brief storm and lightning, the two teams finally got underway on the turf of the refurbished Wayne stadium and the Generals enjoyed the bulk of possession throughout.
The Braves also suffered greatly from the absence of their talisman midfielder, Carsten Hudson, who was out with an illness.
Alberto Ruiz opened the Generals’ account with a shot from distance that was blasted just under the bar for a 1-0 home lead on 15′.
The Braves did not relent after falling behind and they defended well, seeing the one-goal deficit into the halftime talk from coach Jake Briede.
Coach Kevin Jolas’ team turned up the heat in the early minutes of the second half, but Bellmont keeper Grayson Riehm made perhaps his best save of the season, dropping down low to his right to turn away a ball that was knuckling away from him.
Riehm again denied the home team when Graham got behind the Bellmont back line and through on goal and attempted to nutmeg the keeper, but the junior goalie got down in time to make the save.
A second goal eventually came and it was an unlucky one for Riehm and the Braves, with a deflection doing most of the work in Ivan Romero’s goal that made it 2-0 in the 60th minute.
Graham made it 3-0 five minutes later with a shot from distance to the far post for his fifth goal of the season.
Bellmont’s best chance for a first goal of the season came in the 71st minute when Gus Fuelling slotted a ball through the Wayne back line to Taahir Ally, but the senior forward was denied by the keeper.
At 79′, Graham took a long ball down the middle from Eric Carlin and put it past Riehm for a fourth goal. The chance came immediately after Malachi LaVine had won a free kick just outside the box for a dangerous free kick.
Bellmont dropped to 0-4 with the loss. They’ll host Huntington North (2-3-1) and Eastside (0-2) next week.
About the Author
