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Niles boys soccer team battles state-ranked South Range

NILES — South Range looked to preserve its perfect record in the Northeast 8 Conference, going into Bo Rein Stadium Tuesday night.

They did just that, as they left Niles with a 6-1 win over the Red Dragons (2-8) in a match that saw a heavy second-half attack from the Raiders.

“Anytime you’re on the road, and especially in league play, getting a win is huge,” Raiders coach Mike Bailey said. “We set ourselves up nicely. We’ve got some big matches in the next week and a half here that are going to determine who wins the league, but a lot of it boils down to how coachable my boys are. They do a great job at halftime of taking instruction and applying it on the field, and I’m really proud of them.”

Niles coach Greg Miller gave credit to the Raiders.

“First half, we came out, we played a hard match with them, kept them on their heels, had a lot of pressure,” he said. “I think the second half we kind of left everything in the first half, came out a little softer, and they (South Range) had the pressure. They’re number four in the state in Division III, so they have a good team.”

Niles took an early lead with a goal by Joe Wolfe, but that’s the only time in the match that South Range fell behind, as a goal by Luke McConnell tied the score only minutes later and a goal by Camden Thomas gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead. They didn’t look back from there.

Although it hasn’t been the season Niles wanted, Miller still sees a competitive edge to his team.

“We just keep going, because we’ve been in every match except for the two with South Range. All the other matches we have been right in there,” he said. Warren Harding, on our first outing this year, we lost 3-2 on a penalty shot, and everybody else it’s been a 2-1 game, 3-2 game. Just keep chugging along, we’re a younger team, we’ll get there.”

South Range (10-1) keeps its perfect league record going forward, and Bailey is proud of his team.

“Our league is very competitive, it may be the best league in the Youngstown area here. To start off 8-0 in the league, there’s some really good teams out there,” he said. “We’ve got Hubbard, and Poland, and Lakeview in the next three, and that’s going to determine a lot of how the league shapes out.”

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