by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
The Division II postseason soccer tournament got under way Tuesday night with a doubleheader at Circleville High School.
Circleville’s boys started the evening with a 9-1 win over Portsmouth West while the Circleville girls won the nightcap 2-0 over rival Logan Elm.Â
Circleville 2, Logan Elm 0
The fifth-seeded Lady Tigers hosted the No. 12 Braves in a sectional semifinal.
After nearly 30 minutes of scoreless action, the Tigers were able to strike.
An indirect kick resulted led to the Tigers getting a penalty kick. Nilyn Cockerham sent the shot toward the right corner. Goalie Olivia Adams was able to get her hands on it but couldn’t keep it out of the goal and the Tigers went up 1-0 with 10:19 left in the half.
Cockerham added an insurance goal with 11:25 left in the game to send the Tigers on to a section final Thursday night against Warren, a 7-0 winner over Miami Trace.
Circleville 9, Portsmouth West 1
Circleville hosted Portsmouth West Tuesday in a sub-sectional matchup and the game belonged to the hosts.
Rylan Byers had a hat trick for the Tigers. He got the Tigers on the board with the game’s first goal about 10 minutes into the contest. He added a second goal 10 minutes later to put CHS up 3-0 and completed his trio with a score six minutes into the second half.
Goals from Edwin Zheng, Kaiden Chea and Devin Chea, along with two from Byers had the Tigers up 5-0 at halftime.
After Byers’ third goal, Circleville got scores from Josiah Gains, Zheng and another from Gains to lead 9-0.
West’s Carter Essman finally got the Senators on the board when he scored with 12 minutes left in the game.
The Tigers have a quick turnaround as they head to Gallipolis Wednesday to take on No. 2 seed Gallia Academy.Â
