The Patriots played a local rival game against the Rocky River Ravens on their home field this past week.  Independence scored early to take a 1-0 lead and added two additional goals in the second half.

The early goal came when Jonny Mwembya would slam a shot past the Ravens goalkeeper on an excellent set-up pass by Arguello Pablo who received the assist. The two teams would struggle back and forth for positioning with the Patriots having an advantage in time of possession.  However, the Patriots had some good opportunities and could not capitalize on them.  Therefore, the first half ended with the Patriots having a slim 1-0 margin.

In the second half, Independence kept the pressure on the Ravens defense.  While on the attack the Ravens were called for a penalty inside the box.  At the 38th minute all-time scoring leader Cvan Than scored on a penalty kick smashing a shot past the goalkeeper in the right lower corner of the net for a 2-0 advantage.

With 5 minutes remaining in the game, on a rebound after a nice save by the Ravens goalkeeper off a hard shot by Rio Lian he could not control in front of the net,  the Patriots Cvan Than would blast a shot from close range and slam the ball into the back of the net to finish off the Ravens making the score 3-0.

Patriots goal keeper Adam Ali earned the clean sheet making several key saves for the home team.  He also played aggressively in the net giving his team much needed support in the first half and throughout the match.

Independence is now 8-3-1 overall, 4-1 in the SW4A conference so far this season with big conference games coming up against Myers Park, Hickory Ridge, East Mecklenburg, Porter Ridge and Butler over the next few weeks.