Andy Loop’s 24 saves not enough for Springville G-I boys varsity soccer team

SPRINGVILLE — The Springville-Griffith Institute boys varsity soccer team fell to 1 – 11 with a 5 – 0 league loss to the Maryvale Flyers on Friday, Oct. 5. Despite the loss, Andy Loop made 24 saves, as he filled in for injured Nolan Gills, as keeper.

“We are battling through many injuries and were started Andy Loop in goal in place of starting keeper Nolan Gills,” Coach Tom Szczerbacki said. “Andrew has been struggling with a nagging injury and, with the injuries mounting on this team, we needed a healthy player on the field. He played a great game for us.

“After two quick goals by Maryvale, he refocused and was determined to give us a quality performance, in goal.”

Captain Brandon Sullivan commented that “the first half didn’t go so well, defensively. They scored all of their goals in the first half; we just flat-out didn’t execute. In the second half, we held them scoreless, but we just couldn’t answer back.”

The boys fell behind early by 2 goals in the first 15 minutes, after looking to rebound after a 3 – 1 loss to Holland, a day earlier.

“We faced some adversity, falling behind early by 2 goals early, but they didn’t hang their heads; they continued to play well, created some good opportunities and finished strong,” Szczerbacki said.

With Loop’s moving out of the playing field to goal for the injured Gills and junior forward Kevin Zabawa out for the season, due to a shoulder injury, Szczerbacki moved junior Cody Mayerat into the lineup.

“Cody Mayerat played a complete 80 minutes,” Szczerbacki said. “We need players to step up for the players that are injured. Cody played very well for us; he was very excited to get an opportunity to play more, and it showed with his play on the field.”

With the injuries stacked up, the Griffin team did not have a single sub on its bench.

“Not having a sub can be pretty grueling, physically. [It] definitely was tough to deal with,” Sullivan said.

Szczerbacki applauded Val Hill for being a “leader for 80 minutes and playing his strongest game of the season.”

The boys will travel to Pioneer on Monday, Oct. 15 for a 4:30 p.m. showdown against that division rival.