By Jeff Wickerham
The Tri-Valley Scotties 10-4-1 (6-2 MVL) hosted the Coshocton Redskins 6-7-1 (3-4-1 MVL) for Tri-Valley’s Senior night, on Tuesday, October 10 at Kenny Wolford park in Dresden.
Starting for the Scotties was; Keeper-Sophomore Owen Harney, Defense-Senior Captains Devin Watts and Camden Wickerham, Senior Gage Hindel, and Sophomore Oliver Baker, Midfiled-Senior Captain Sam Schott and Senior Elijah Felumlee and Juniors Dominic Dale, Yuvi Batola. S, Forwards-Seniors Ethan McLellan and Gael Oseguera, Subbing in during the match were: Juniors: Chris Garbrandt, Laetyn Holdsworth, Lincoln Rhodes, and Nick Flarey, Sophomores: Blake Spencer, Chance Storer, Cole Daugherty, Cris Carpenter, Nathan Hustey and Ty Young, Freshmen: Corbin Ryan, Jake Pratt, Lewis Mozena, and Rylee Winters
Kickoff was a little different tonight, as Oseguera and McLellan took the first two touches on the ball, then passed the ball to Coshocton, who kicked it out of bounds. Both players have been injured and haven’t played the past few games and Coach Laughlin wanted to get them their final touches on the ball, as seniors.
Play resumed from that point to a traditional game and 3 minutes in, Bastola fired a shot into the corner of the goal, Scotties 1, Redskins 0.
5 minutes later, Coshocton countered with a gem of a left footed shot, which curved into the upper side netting of the goal. Scotties 1, Redskins 1.
Play went back and forth, but for the most part, Tri-Valley was keeping pressure on the Coshocton back line. At the 31st minute, the pressure finally broke, when Schott found Bastola for his second goal of the game. Tri-Valley 2, Coshocton 1.
35 minutes in, Dale hit Bastola with a beautiful pass and Yuvi scored a hat-trick. Scotties 3, Redskins 1.
Hafltime came and as the team walked down to the corner flag, there was a feeling of boys having fun, playing a game they really enjoyed. Coach Laughlin made sure everyone felt good, gave some tips and pointers both offensive and defensively, and the boys went back to work.
At 57 minutes, Bastola was at it again, scoring his 4th goal of the game! 4-1 Scotties.
At the 62nd minute, there was a surprise player checking in-Oseguera! Gael has been injured and hasn’t played since the September 9th game vs. Johnstown. He made an immediate impact, with a perfectly crossed ball to a charging Baker, who put the ball into the back of the net with a strong header. Tri-Valley 5, Coshocton 1.
As the clock struck zero and the teams shook hands, it was time for the senior walk. The team headed down to the far end of the field and walked hand in hand, to midfield. At that point, the Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors stopped, but the Seniors continued to walk, hand in hand, to the goal line.
It was a great moment for the boys, for the team, for the fans, and for the parents. The last regular season game came to an end with the 7 seniors arm in arm, in a circle. As the rest of the team charged at them to congratulate their final walk, I heard more than once…
“I Love You Guys”.
Next up, the Scotties 11-4-1 (7-2 MVL) will host a playoff game vs. Morgan 6-10 (5-5 MVL) on Monday, October 16 at 6:30 pm.
