Circleville’s soccer season came to an end Monday night as the Tigers dropped a 4-3 decision to Sheridan in the opening round of the Southeast District Division II tournament.
The No. 20 seed Generals broke open a scoreless game when Nick Stark scored in the 23rd minute and Jim Swain added a second goal 30 seconds later.
Swain added another goal four minutes later for a 3-0 Sheridan lead which stood at halftime.
Senior Liam Goodhart and freshman Kaden Paxton scored goals for 13th seed Circleville in the second half.
“We knew going into this game that it was going to be a battle. When we went over to Sheridan a few weeks ago we came away with a hard fought win late in the game,” Circleville coach Evan Callahan said. “Sheridan is a lot better than what their record is. They are going to be one of the most improved teams in our district over the next few years and their guys play with tremendous effort over there.
“Sheridan jumped out on us in the first half and we had to make some adjustments in the second half by pushing a lot more guys into the attack. We were able to get two goals, and had several other chances but we just weren’t able to convert. I’m proud of the fight and effort our guys competed with for the full 80 minutes. We left everything out there that we possibly could. It just didn’t go our way.
“Our sophomore Ashton Groff played with a lot of fight and he is someone that is always going to give you everything he has no matter what he does. Our goalie Will Flory made some incredible saves tonight and the future is bright for him moving forward. He is a special player.”
The Generals (3-14-1) advance to face No. 4 Unioto (11-5) on Wednesday.
Circleville wraps up the season with an 8-8-2 record.
“I’m proud of the growth our team has shown throughout the season. We have had a lot of ups and downs but at the end of the day I think we can be proud of what we were able to do and where we are heading,” said Callihan, who is completing his first year at the helm of the boys program. “It’s a process and it is not going to happen overnight. I think we have a lot of younger guys in our program that have the potential to make us more competitive over the next few years and that is one of our goals.
“I want to thank our seniors for all that they have done for the program (Liam Goodhart, Luke Stout, Johnnie Bocook, Hayden Liff, Justin Darnell, Josiah Gaines, Slater Search). They have stayed the course over the past few years and they have stayed with it even when things haven’t been easy. They continued to show up with a winning attitude and their commitment to improve and their desire to always strive for improvement is something I will always remember. It’s not easy having a new coach come in for your senior year but those guys did so much for us as a program and I’m really proud of them. The habits that they have developed over the past four years are going to help them all be successful as they get ready to embark on a new chapter in their lives and I have all the confidence in the world in them moving forward.”
Mustangs advance
WILLIAMSPORT — Westfall advanced with a win over Logan Elm Monday night.
The 16th-seeded Mustangs advanced with a 4-2 win over the No. 17 Braves.
Westfall advances to take on No. 1 seed Marietta Wenesday.
