Jeff Wickerham
The Tri-Valley Scotties 9-4-1 (6-2 MVL) took on the Licking Heights Hornets on Saturday, October 7. In contrast to the Scotties last game, which was 80 degrees and sunny, kickoff at 10:00 am was 48 degrees and overcast.
Starters for the Scotties were; Goalkeeper: Sophomore Owen Harney, Defense: Senior Captains Camden Wickerham and Devin Watts, Junior Chris Garbrandt, and Sophomore Oliver Baker, Midfield: Juniors Yuvi Bastola, Nick Flarey and Dominic Dale along with Freshman Corbin Ryan, Forwards: Senior Captain Sam Schott and Sophomore Cris Carpenter, Subbing into the game were; Seniors: Gage Hindel and Elijah Felumlee, Junior: Laetyn Holdsworth, Sophomores: Chance Storer, Cole Daugherty, and Ty Young, Freshmen: Rylee Winters and Lewis Mozena.
Three minutes into the match, Watts saw an opportunity and played a perfect ball over the defense. As soon as it was kicked, Bastola took off, trapped the ball, went to goal, and put the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 Scotties.
This seemed to wake Heights up, because they played hard, clean soccer after that. Play went back and forth for the remaining of the half with both defenses playing strong. At the 34 minute mark, the Scotties were called for a foul in the box, which gave the Hornets a penalty kick. The Heights player approached the ball, slowed down to try to trick Harney, but Harney didn’t take the bait. He smothered the shot, saving the penalty kick!
The teams went into halftime, Tri-Valley up 1-0.
Coach Keith Laughlin’s message at halftime? “You guys are in a game, aren’t you? This is a physical team and I would bet their coach is telling them right now, continue to be physical. Let’s be physical too. Make sure to play clean, but lean into them, forcing them to make a mistake.”
The Scotties players took that to heart, especially two of the subs, Mozena and Winters. Doing this made the Heights players rush their passes, which created turnovers.
At the 49 minute mark, Bastola had the ball in the midfield and placed a soaring ball over the defense to Schott, who took it to goal and scored the Scotties second goal of the day. 2-0 Tri-Valley.
Ten minutes later, at 59 minutes, the Scottie defense was under attack. Harney came out and made a save, but the ball rebounded to a Hornets player. After multiple blocked shots by the defense, the ball found the back of the net. 2-1 Scotties.
For remaining 21 minutes, the Scotties defense were a bend, but don’t break kind of defense. Another goal was not allowed, and the final horn sounded. Scotties 2, Hornets 1.
Harney had 12 saves in the game and the 50/50 balls were truly 50/50, with the Scotties winning 10 of the 20 contested balls.
The regular season finale is also Senior night, next Tuesday, October 10 at 5:30 pm. Tri-Valley 10-4-1 (6-2 MVL) will host Coshocton 5-7-1 (3-4-1 MVL) at Kenny Wolford Park. Come out and support your Scotties!