Lions upend Tigers in season opener
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — In one game, the Fairfield Lions boys soccer team washed away the fear of repeating what happened a season ago.
One year ago, the Lions were winless, but that will not happen in 2010, as the Lions played solid and smart soccer to upset Highland County rival McClain, 3-1 Tuesday at Fairfield High School in both teams' season opener.
The tempo of the game changed with the play of 5-4, 110-pound junior Stephen Barcus, better known by his teammates and coaches as "Peanut."
Barcus broke the scoreless tie in the second half at the 30:37 mark with a direct kick goal for the 1-0 lead.
The second half success of the Lions wasn't quite finished as the offense pressured the defense of the defending South Central Ohio League champion McClain, increasing its lead to a score of 2-0 when senior Josh Ball powered the ball across the goal into the right corner of the net. The goal was assisted by freshman Joey Wilson at the 29:15 mark of the second half.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Lions were back on the board with a direct kick goal by Barcus, past three McClain players, for a FHS three-goal lead.
"This was extremely exciting for the boys," FHS coach Brian Ortlieb said. "They have waited two years for this, and I told them all the work they put in, look where it got them. They worked hard at soccer and worked hard on a lot of the little things."
McClain's lone goal came with 7:51 left in the game by senior Daniel White. He was assisted by junior Luis Rivas.
But the long-awaited win by the Lions was credited by Ortlieb, saying his team played 360-soccer, instead of 180-soccer, which is what they played last season.
"We created open spaces with the style of soccer we played (Tuesday)," he said. "We used the entire field."
Jackson credited Fairfield for their play against his Tigers but said his team will learn from the experience, using it as a wake-up call.
"We came out flat and it was a rough start. This was an eye-opener and we know we can't take anyone lightly," Jackson said. "We have to take care of business early in the game. I'm proud of my team, and it's only the first game.
"Things like this happen, and it's how we recover that will show what kind of team we are."
In the first half of scoreless soccer, Fairfield keeper Brandon Carmean had saves on direct kicks and at one point had back-to-back savers near the 21:37 mark. Carmean also had a couple saves on breakaway opportunities by the Tigers.
Carmean finished with 11 saves.
"Brandon had a really good game," Ortlieb said. "He played very aggressive, and we are proud of the effort he gave us."
Fairfield said they won't rest with just this one win.
"We need to continue to learn from this," Ortlieb said. "There are no two ways around it, this was a big win for our program. Not only beating a larger school, but beating the caliber of team like McClain. We will feed off of this win against West Union on Friday."
Jackson said his team will rebound from the loss, as they have to play the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs Wednesday at McClain Field.
"I liked the way we moved the ball and our hustle was good. Steven Barber was good in the backfield, but overall, things didn't go in our favor. We have to work harder, and we have Lynchburg (Wednesday).
"Lynchburg-Clay won't be easy, but we have to put this behind us and look forward to (Wednesday)."
BOX SCORE
MHS 0 1 — 1
FHS 0 3 — 3
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