Miami 1, Grove 0 (boys)

An airtight defense saved the day for Miami as the Wardogs squeezed past Grove 1-0 Friday night at Ed Craig Field in a non-district soccer match.

The lone goal on the night came on a lazer shot by Ruben Salazar with 7:33 remaining. His shot caromed off the right post and skipped into the goal.

“Ruben got off a good shot,” Miami coach Tim Potter said. “It was bouncing around. He and Julio were trying to combo back and forth a little bit. It bounced off one of the Grove players, then he took advantage of it.”

Salazar’s shot came from about 20 yards out on the Miami side of the field.

Goalie Matt Irwin turned in three big stops during a second half that saw Grove change offensive strategies.

“They were going to the outside, then went to the inside,” Potter said. “That caught us off guard. We had assumed they would do the same thing, but they didn’t.”

The Ridgerunners’ final scoring threat was snuffed by Irwin with 2:46 remaining. Grove had the ball in the Dogs’ end of the pitch for the final 1:30, but was unable to mount a serious effort.

“Matt made some nice saves,” Potter said.

Grove had posted a 2-0 win over Miami in a preseason scrimmage and the teams will tangle again Thursday in the first round of the Mustang Showcase in Oologah.