None of the rides hauled in every year for the Great Geauga County Fair have anything on the turbulence the West Geauga boys experienced Oct. 5 in a nonconference match against Mayfield. The Wolverines perhaps compiled their best 40 as a side all fall before halftime, building a two-goal lead and looking the part while doing so. But like some of those rides in Burton, what goes up eventually comes down. West G had to gut it out in the second 40, as the Wildcats came charging back. Just not all the way, as the Wolverines brought this ride to a satisfying conclusion for their part in it. Evan Brencic and Frankie Sassano struck in the opening 40, and West G held on for dear life for a 2-1 win over Mayfield to get to 6-6-2 on the campaign. West Geauga freshman Evan Brencic discusses his side's 2-1 win over MayfieldRoller-coaster of an 80 for West G, but they saw it throughHe brings some width & pace to the corners up top in a way that I think can really help this side in the years ahead pic.twitter.com/ktaDESx2TG — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) October 6, 2024 Wolverines coach Danny Cappelucci and his side likely would have preferred a smoother trek on a Saturday afternoon, especially such a high-flying opening 40, but it was effective enough. “We were really happy with the way we played in the first half,” Cappelucci said. “It was our first game in a week. We hadn’t played since last Saturday. So a lot of practice this week. So we kind of hoped we’d come out with energy, which we did in the first half. We created a lot of chances and hoped to have a couple more goals honestly than the two we had. But two really great goals that we worked. “Yeah, we lost some steam in the second half. Like every team right now, we’re fighting injuries and illness, so we’re down a couple players. So we didn’t have as many subs to toss in during the game as we would hope. I think that took its toll on the guys as the second half kind of wore on. But yeah, like I told the boys, I’m really proud that they kind of dug it out. It wasn’t pretty in the second half at times, some ugly moments. But you’ve got to grind those wins out sometimes.” Brencic gave his side a dream start in the second minute with a silky low-90 right-footed strike inside the left post, the freshman sprinting to the corner flag with his joyous teammates in tow following his fourth goal of the season. West G 1-0Evan Brencic 2nd min pic.twitter.com/UxG3xPijB5 — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) October 5, 2024 Brencic nearly provided a second in the 18th, but Wildcats goalkeeper Leo Iacovetta did well with a lunging stop to keep it 1-0. Sassano delivered the second in the 22nd with a left-footed strike from the top of the box, also opting low-90, the senior’s seventh goal of the fall. West G 2-0Frankie Sassano 22nd min pic.twitter.com/Y7kBCSsCaA — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) October 5, 2024 “I was just kind of ready to position myself and then hoping for a ball to get flicked in,” Sassano said. “We did that, and then I had a nice shot on goal.” As much intent and width as West G displayed in the opening 40, that consistency did not carry over after halftime, a lament for Sassano and the side that they hope to correct. “I feel like first half, we were definitely more dominant on the ball,” Sassano said. “And then second half, we were up, 2-0. Everyone felt like we were just going to win that game. “(That opening 40,) we were moving the ball really well side to side. Then we got our finishing. We definitely could have had a couple more.” Mayfield (5-8-2) was vastly improved in the second 40, locating width through overlaps and generating a lifeline in the 48th. Purely by statistical metric, it came from an unlikely source. Sophomore Silas Koonce, who had no goals for all of 2024 to that point, banged home a right-footed chippy under the crossbar to make it a 2-1 match. Mayfield lifeline through Silas Koonce 48th min2-1 West G pic.twitter.com/YoJsMujLGK — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) October 5, 2024 Much to the relief of the hosts, despite persistence from the visitors to find an equalizer, the scoreline remained right there.