With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many area schools are choosing to honor their seniors early in the year in case something arises midseason. Ten seniors help comprise the Boardman roster, and the veteran-led Spartans walked away with a 1-0 clean sheet over the visiting Warren G. Harding Raiders.

“Sometimes senior night could be a bit of a distraction at the start of the game,” Boardman coach Eric Simione said. “We had a pretty sloppy first half, but we calmed down a bit at halftime, and they had a little better ball control, a little bit more pressure.”

On the other side, Harding (2-1) took its first loss of the season after wins against Kennedy and Niles.

“It’s hard for us to compete against 10 or 11 seniors that they had, they had as many seniors as we almost had a whole team,” Harding coach Tilden Tatebe said. “With only two subs on this pitch in this humidity, I knew it was going to be rough.”

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes

Jacob Tatebe of Harding dribbles down the field Tuesday night at Boardman.

Harding starts five freshmen and a pair of sophomores.

“I thought my guys did well for our inexperience, playing against a good solid team on a big pitch, so I’m pleased with their competitiveness,” Tatebe said. “Obviously not happy with the end result, but we had our chances too.”

With a young roster, each game provides a learning opportunity, and Tatebe sees that aspect of the game with his team.

“I think it’s just going to keep making us stronger,” he said. “I think by the end of the year, we’ll come out a lot more experienced, a lot tougher and a lot more aware of the situation.

“I think some of it too is, especially at the beginning, some of the guys were caught wide-eyed, and they weren’t ready for the moment, but honestly, at the end of the year, I’m going to like where we’re sitting if we keep working like we are.”

Despite it being senior night for Boardman, the hero of the match was one of the youngest players on the pitch in the form of freshman Sava Crnjak, who scored with 7:32 remaining in the match.

“It felt great after a bad start in the first half,” Crnjak said. “In the second half, we just started to turn it up and we missed chances after chances, they just didn’t go our way.

“For one to finally go in, especially at the end, was very relieving and it just felt great.”

Simione sees a lot of potential in the midfielder.

“Sava just has nice touch, especially for a freshman,” he said. “We have a number of kids on this team that can shoot the ball, and a lot of them, with the adrenaline and the intensity and the frustration, probably would have put that on the baseball field.

“Just a beautiful chip right over the keeper. That’s just unbelievable skill for someone that young.”

For Crnjak it’s about learning from the upperclassmen at the varsity level.

“It’s definitely different from what I expected,” he said. “It’s faster and more aggressive — they’re stronger than me. Usually I’m not the most athletic person on the field as I am when I play with people my age.

“It’s a great experience. It makes you play with better players, it helps you develop as a player, it makes you learn from your mistakes and what you need to help, and what your strengths are.”

The other heroes of the evening for Boardman (4-1) were the twin bill of goalkeepers with senior Spencer Smith and sophomore Carson Essad.

The two All-American Conference teams will have a rematch a month from now on Oct. 1 at Mollenkopf Stadium in Warren.