Devils fall in home opener

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — Ironwood forced overtime, but Bayburn scored just four minutes into extra time for a 2-1 win Tuesday.

Ironwood tied the game in the 60th minute on a goal by Jon Erickson, but the Devils didn’t have any subs after that and fell four minutes into overtime.

“I was never so proud of my kids,” Ironwood coach Don Cvengros said. “They played as hard as they could with no subs.”

The Red Devils didn’t start well in their home and Northern Lights Conference opener. Bayburn scored four minutes into the game when Hunter Holman kicked it in after Ironwood failed to clear it.

“We were a little bit slow and I wasn’t really happy,” Cvengros said. “Home game and you start off slow.”

But the Devils recovered from there, outshooting Bayburn 10-1 the rest of the first half. Ironwood didn’t have anything to show for it, though, even though that included a handful of quality chances.

“We need to continue to work on our finishing touches,” Cvengros said.

At the 60th minute, Ironwood finally finished. Luke Hewitt hit Erickson, who faked Bayburn’s solid goalkeeper to the right and scored left. Erickson has all four of Ironwood’s goals this season.

Erickson didn’t feel good Tuesday, but he played hard, Cvengros said.

Ironwood lost Noah Terzano to an ankle injury with about 20 minutes left and it didn’t have any subs left. Riley Jarocki tried to go with a sore back, but he left early in the game.

The game went to overtime and Bayburn, with 18 players on the roster, was fresher and Andy David scored from 18 yards out.

“Our defense, they did a good job. We started to tire quite a bit,” Cvengros said. “I wasn’t hoping for overtime. Our guys were completely gassed in this hot, humid weather. Playing extra time, I knew it wasn’t going to be good for us.”

Niagara plays at Ironwood Saturday at 1 p.m. Niagara won the first meeting last week.

“They’ll be tested again,” Cvengros said. “I just hope some of our injured guys are ready to go. I think Noah’s ankle isn’t too bad.”