Devils win final home soccer game

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP — Ironwood jumped out to a 4-0 first-half lead and went on to beat Three Lakes 5-1 Tuesday in the Red Devils’ final home game of the year.

Senior Bryant Rowe picked up a hat trick on Senior Night.

“The kids were fired up for this game,” Ironwood coach Don Cvengros said. “We’ve been starting slow at home for some reason. Tonight they were ready. They wanted this one.”

Ironwood’s Riley Jarocki was cleared by a doctor to play and he scored the game’s first goal on an assist by Jon Erickson 13 minutes into the game.

“He makes a big difference when he’s out there,” Cvengros said.

Two minutes later, Bryant Rowe scored on a through pass from Erickson. Rowe made it 3-0, scoring on another pass from Erickson.

Ironwood went up 4-0 as Rowe completed the natural hat trick on another assist from Erickson.

“Rowe was just on fire,” Cvengros said. “He really wanted to score and win this game. He really picked it up.”

It was quite a half for Ironwood, which lost 6-5 at Three Lakes earlier this season.

“It was probably as good a half as we’ve played all year,” Cvengros said. “Our defense was much improved. Holding them to one goal was a big step up for our defense.

“These guys didn’t want to go overtime. They wanted to make a statement and I think we did.”

Ironwood took a 5-0 lead in the second half. Rowe sent a pass to Erickson, who beat the defensive line with his speed.

Three Lakes later scored on a corner kick with many bodies in front of the net.

Ironwood’s Alex Smith moved to center midfield.

“He’s the fastest guy on the team,” Cvengros said. “He’s so tall. He kind of wreaks havoc in the midfield. He has a huge boot, so he can really kick the ball over.”

Ironwood (2-5) goes to a weekend tournament at Niagara and will play Iron Mountain and Kingsford.