By Fred Kroner
Oakwood/Salt Fork bounced back from a first-round 3-0 shutout loss to Bloomington Central Catholic to finish in third place in the weekend Hoopeston Cornjerker Soccer Classic, which concluded on Saturday (Sept. 10).
Grant Powell recorded a goal and an assist as the Comets dropped Arthur Okaw Christian, 3-0. Reef Pacot also hit a goal and Ty Smoot added an assist.
Goalkeeper Joshua Ruch had one save. Oakwood/SF held a 14-5 edge in total shots.
In the third-place match, Oakwood/Salt Fork shut out Covington, Ind., 5-0, behind a hat trick from Powell, who has a team-best 19 goals.
Brody Taflinger and Jacob Pricer also scored while Smoot, Macen Phillips and Saul Carrillo added assists.
Ruch had two saves in a match where the Comets held a 21-5 edge in total shots. The shutout was the eighth of the season for the senior.
Ruch had six saves against BCC, a match where the Saints held a 17-12 edge in shots.
On Thursday (Sept. 8), Oakwood/Salt Fork registered its fifth consecutive shutout, blanking Rantoul/Paxton-Buckley-Loda, 5-0, in Rantoul.
Powell netted two first-half scores. Other tallies for the Comet were by Pricer, Phillips and Smoot.
Contributing assists were Jacob Taflinger, Derek Drews, Pacot and Phillips.
Oakwood/SF held a 16-6 overall edge on shots. Ruch collected two saves.
The Comets (9-2-1) return to action on Tuesday (Sept. 13) at home against Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin.
