Davidson scores late winner for Edison

MILAN — Alex Davidson had put himself into the right positions over and over, and he just couldn't find the back of the net. By the time seven minutes remained Wednesday night in a tie game, the Edison sophomore had attempted 10 shots, almost all dangerous attempts, with nothing to show for it. And then Davidson found space on the right wing and attempted what looked like a cross. Afterward, Davidson assuredly said he was shooting. His teammate Jonah Main disagreed. No matter. The ball hung up in the air, maybe longer than planned, maybe exactly as planned, and hit off the keeper's fingers and into the net. "Finally the one that probably shouldn't have gone in, went in," Davidson said. "It felt nice." That goal held up in Edison's season opener, a 3-2 victory over Oak Harbor (0-2-1). The Chargers had controlled play for much of the game before a red card turned the contest on its head. But Davidson saved the day. After starting last season 0-4 before turning around to win the SBC Bay Division, Edison is now 1-0. "They've got to have the passion inside and not give up the fight," Edison coach James Duffy said. "That's the group I'm looking forward to continuing with this year. They're gonna make things happen." The first half was all Chargers. Main, a senior, opened the season's scoring by breaking down the left wing for a feed from freshman Gabriel Serna Amaya. Main eventually cut in on his right foot and flicked it past the goalie with the outside of his boot before meeting his teammates near the corner flag and replicating Cristiano Ronaldo's signature "Siu" celebration. "That felt great," Main said. "Last season, I didn't score as much as I'd like to. Starting the season like that, I couldn't ask for a better start." Another senior, Nick Strecker, made it 2-0 late in the first half. He stepped into a ball in space outside the 18-yard box and fired, precisely picking out the top corner. Duffy wants his players to shoot with confidence this fall, and Strecker was rewarded for it early on. "You see a window, he hit a window," Duffy said. "When those opportunities are taken, good things happen." While a number of quality Edison chances didn't find the back of the net, and a Jose Serna Amaya effort rebounded off the crossbar, it didn't seem like it would matter. Oak Harbor mounted its best attack of the game early in the second half, though, and an eventual shot heading toward the back of the net was deflected off the line by Gabriel Serna Amaya. The referee had no choice but to give a red card, and Fulton Krupp deposited the penalty. "It would've been in either way," Duffy said. "That's a painful thing to learn." Just a couple minutes later, Aidan Boss lofted in a long shot from the right wing into the far corner and the game was tied 2-2 with about 20 minutes to play and Edison down a man. The Chargers found a way to right the ship, though. "Most importantly, it was communication and the chemistry we all have with each other," Main said. "We were all tired, so it was pushing through that and to get our heads straight and zero in on the game." Just in the next 15 minutes, Davidson found space for four solid shot attempts, none converted. Then it was Rockets keeper Collin Biehler with a massive save against Main inside of 10 minutes when the senior dribbled his way into an incredibly dangerous position about six yards out. All that was forgotten when Davidson swung in what goes down as a shot whether he intended it or not and finally got the ball over the line. The Rockets didn't let up in the final stages, but Edison senior keeper Samuel McClester made one final save late, giving him five on the night, to secure the victory. It was nearly a nightmare failure to win the opener for Edison, but instead, their on-the-front-foot final 20 minutes despite being down a man provided plenty of reasons to believe. "Playing with 10, it was really their heart that stepped up and played," Duffy said.