Circleville’s soccer program notched a pair of wins Saturday over Miami Trace.
The Tigers boys came out on top 5-1 and the ladies were 4-2 winners.
Circleville 5, Miami Trace 1
The boys were playing a scoreless game for the first 28 minutes before the Tigers found the goal.
“We were able to break the tie with a Luke Stout free kick from about 20 yards out. Right before the half Liam Goodhart played a cross into the box where Paydon Dillon received and finished to give us a 2-0 lead at halftime,” coach Ean Callihan said. “We were able to come out in the second half and add three more goals to extend a 5-0 lead. Miami Trace scored with nine minutes left to make it 5-1.”
Dillon had the Tigers’ third goal (assist to Greyson Buckley), Stout scored on a penalty kick in the 58th minute and Josiah Gaines scored off a rebound in the 61st minute for the fifth CHS goal.
Will Flory recorded 11 saves for the Tigers.
“This was a big game for us as a team and as a program. We thought this would give us a good idea of where we are in our season. Any time you play a team in the Southeast District it’s an opportunity to see where you are, and I thought our guys rose up to the challenge,” Callihan said. “We didn’t play our best the first 20 minutes of the game and we played sloppy. Senior Luke Stout stepped up big for us and got us going with a free kick from 20 yards out.Those are the plays that we need senior leaders to make. Late in the first half senior Liam Goodhart played a nice cross into the box and senior Payden Dillon was able to finish it off for us. Those were two big plays that gave us some momentum going into halftime.”
Levi Morrison scored for the Panthers in the 71st minute and Avery Bennett recorded five saves.
“Our guys played with a lot more fire and intensity in the second half and we were able to put a few more in the back of the net. Senior Josiah Gaines gave us really good minutes tonight and added our fifth goal off of a rebound on the goalie. It was a play that was all about effort. He was where he needed to be and was able to capitalize on it,” Callihan said. “I thought our defense of Greyson Buckley, Slater Search (12 steals), Zack Bell, Ashton Groff and Donovan Dillon (eight steals) all battled and held strong today. We take a lot of pride in our defense as a program and often times they can get overlooked because a lot of what they do doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet but it’s all things that lead to winning.”
The Tigers (4-2-2) have a bit of a break before returning to the pitch hosting Teays Valley on the 19th.
“We have a 10-day break coming up with no varsity games, but we have a few JV only games in that 10-day span. I’m excited to get some of our younger players and more inexperienced guys opportunities to play,” Callihan said. “As a program it takes every single one of us and we are all in this together.”
Circleville 4, Miami Trace 2
Tigers got back on track after dropping the last two games to beat visiting Miami trace 4-2.
The Panthers struck first, just six minutes into the match, but the Tigers rallied to tie the match up six minutes later when Faith Yancey laid a pass off to Makya Cockerham who buried the shot from 20 yards out.
The Tigers struck again four minutes later to take the lead when Yancey played a through ball to Cockerham who buried the shot past the keeper.
“We let some mistakes cost us in the first half, and even with the lead I knew we had a lot to clean up going into the second half,” coach Joseph Stitt said.
Nine minutes into the second half, Ava Justice crossed a ball to the back post to find freshman Kaelin Burchett who buried her first career varsity goal.
“Kaelin has worked very hard since the beginning of summer, it was great to see her record her first career goal,” Stitt said.
With 22 minutes remaining in the match, Bella Morningstar played a pass through the midfield to freshman Kendra Conrad who chipped the keeper for her first varsity goal.
“Kendra is another hardworking freshman who is still learning the game — hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago she wasn’t even playing soccer,” Stitt said. “It’s always an exciting moment when a player scores their first goal, so to have two freshmen do it today, in an important Southeast District match was really incredible.”
The Panthers kept the pressure up and added their final tally with just eight minutes remaining. “Miami Trace is a young team that plays well and works hard. They’re going to be a tough team to play the next few seasons,” Stitt said.
The Tigers improve to 3-3-2 overall, and are back in action at home on Wednesday against Div. III state-ranked Bishop Rosecrans in an Mid-State League match. The Tigers are 1-3 in league play.
