BATTLING — Edison’s Joey Booth competes against Caldwell in a Division III sectional contest on Monday. (Photo by Michelle Witt)

CALDWELL — Visiting Edison knocked off Caldwell, 2-1 (3-2 PKs), in the opening round of the Ohio Division III East District Boys Soccer Sectional Tournament on Monday.

Thanks to a first-half goal by Zac Fluharty, assisted by Riley Watson, the Wildcats took a slim 1-0 lead into halftime.

The Redskins commanded the second half and finally tied things up when Fernando Onate scored on a corner kick. The teams were deadlocked at 1-1 at the end of regulation.

After 20 minutes of scoreless overtime action, the teams were forced to play a shootout. Edison’s Carter Montgomery was able to score the game-winning PK and help the ninth-seeded Wildcats advance to the second round for a matchup with first-seeded Hiland.

“I think throughout the course of that game, we experienced every emotion humanly possible,” Edison coach Aaron Richardson said. “At times, we were happy, sad and angry but, at the end of the day, we battled and pulled through.

“It was a tale of two halves. It seemed like we had complete control in the first half, but we had to play on our heels in the second half because Caldwell controlled us. Thats credit to coach (Michael) Ontko for adjusting.”

Caldwell coach Ontko was pleased with the way his team responded in the second half.

“We had a lot of effort in the second half,” he said. “This is a young team. We only have two seniors so, hopefully, our younger players can continue to grow in the future.”

Caldwell goalkeeper Matt Kawalsky tallied 11 saves on 12 shots on goal by Edison. The Wildcats’ keeper, Kyle Griffith, recorded 20 saves on 21 shots on goal by Caldwell.

CHS finishes the 2018 season at 5-7-1, while Edison stays alive and will go Berlin to take on Hiland on Wednesday at 6 p.m.