Mustangs, Lions tie in Highland County rivalry match
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Wednesday night at Fairfield High School was about penalty kicks and two Highland County and Southern Hills League rivals who made them.
The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs and Fairfield Lions finished in a 1-1 tie as each team made a second-half penalty kick to secure their lone goal.
"We just struggled. Fairfield has gotten a lot better, and Brian (Ortlieb) runs a good program," LC coach Dennis West said. "We knew coming in this was going to be tough.
"We had opportunity after opportunity to score, but we are struggling to convert. If we don't convert, we won't win."
It was the Lions who scored first with a penalty kick at the 18:52 mark to take a 1-0 lead with the goal by Blake Hildebrant.
The match continued to get interesting, going down to the wire.
With a little over a minute left in the match, the Mustangs were awarded a penalty kick shot. After the Lions switched keepers, and with the clock running, LC senior Wesley Pierson kicked the ball to the right side of the net with 40 seconds left in the match, tying the score at 1-1.
FHS finished with nine saves and Matthew West of LC also collected nine saves at keeper.
The tie moves LC to 8-3-1 overall, while FHS moves to 3-4-3 overall. If the FHS Lions win their next two SHL matches, they will clinch the Division I SHL title. They still have a tough task ahead with matches at Eastern Brown and then against Fayetteville their next two Fridays.
"Tonight we had shots, but we aren't executing," West said. "We have to finish because we aren't a high-scoring team."
LC will play again at Blanchester, a non-league game, on Thursday.
BOX SCORE
LC 0 1 — 1
FHS 0 1 — 1[[In-content Ad]]
The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs and Fairfield Lions finished in a 1-1 tie as each team made a second-half penalty kick to secure their lone goal.
"We just struggled. Fairfield has gotten a lot better, and Brian (Ortlieb) runs a good program," LC coach Dennis West said. "We knew coming in this was going to be tough.
"We had opportunity after opportunity to score, but we are struggling to convert. If we don't convert, we won't win."
It was the Lions who scored first with a penalty kick at the 18:52 mark to take a 1-0 lead with the goal by Blake Hildebrant.
The match continued to get interesting, going down to the wire.
With a little over a minute left in the match, the Mustangs were awarded a penalty kick shot. After the Lions switched keepers, and with the clock running, LC senior Wesley Pierson kicked the ball to the right side of the net with 40 seconds left in the match, tying the score at 1-1.
FHS finished with nine saves and Matthew West of LC also collected nine saves at keeper.
The tie moves LC to 8-3-1 overall, while FHS moves to 3-4-3 overall. If the FHS Lions win their next two SHL matches, they will clinch the Division I SHL title. They still have a tough task ahead with matches at Eastern Brown and then against Fayetteville their next two Fridays.
"Tonight we had shots, but we aren't executing," West said. "We have to finish because we aren't a high-scoring team."
LC will play again at Blanchester, a non-league game, on Thursday.
BOX SCORE
LC 0 1 — 1
FHS 0 1 — 1[[In-content Ad]]