Salem holds off late Canton surge in P-CEP soccer classic
Canton’s Juan Lazeki and Salem’s Chase Lieb battle for possession during Tuesday’s rivalry match.
Rarely do regular-season high school soccer matches deliver more bang for your buck than Tuesday night’s Salem-vs.-Canton showdown.
Delayed 30 minutes due to excessive heat, the contest — which doubled as a fundraiser for the SJ5K Foundation — turned into a pressure cooker for both teams as Salem’s defense repelled several late Canton threats as the Rocks held on to win, 2-1.
Among the Rocks’ unsung heroes were defenders Eli Garwood, Noah Wilson, Magliore Popp and Luke Berry, who helped Salem keeper Peter Demetter defuse a few dangerous Canton possessions.
Canton’s Lucas Maiolatesi, who scored the Cobras’ lone goal to cut his team’s deficit to 2-1 in the first, hit each post once in the second half — the latter of which banged hard off the right post after he launched a blistering free kick.
Demetter was solid in goal
Demetter was impressive throughout the night, corralling a ball that rolled threateningly around the goal box with less than five minutes to play.
Salem opened the scoring when senior captain Tyler Veresh blasted a low penalty kick into the corner inside the left post with 19:30 on the first-half clock.
Rock senior Karamoko Doukoure extended his team’s advantage to 2-0 a short time later when he whistled a shot from the right flank inside the left post.
Maiolatesi was inches away from a hat-trick
Maiolatesi made it interesting just before halftime with a rocket blast that probably shredded the mesh net.
Canton junior keeper Jacob Allen was solid, allowing just one goal along with the hard-to-stop PK.
Salem improved to 3-0-1 overall (the Rocks are 1-0-1 in the KLAA’s Gold Division) while Canton slipped to 2-1 overall.
The Cobras sit atop the KLAA Black Division with a 2-0 mark.
Fundraising fun
Among the night’s highlights were raffles and other fundraising events that benefitted the SJ5K Foundation. Fans paid to participate in a halftime shootout against P-CCS administrators and Canton’s cobra mascot.
Another cool happening unfolded before the came when youth league players ran out with Salem and Canton players during pre-game introductions.
Overall, the night was a success — humidity and all.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
