Indians control tempo for win over Blue Lions
For the seventh time this season — over double the number of times from one season ago — the Hillsboro Indians boys soccer team left the field with a win. This time, the Tribe defeated the visiting Washington Blue Lions by a score of 9-1, and along the way HHS gained a win in conference play.
The Indians (7-5 overall) won by controlling all aspects of their Frontier Athletic Conference match against the Blue Lions, leading 4-0 at halftime, then adding four more goals in the second half.
“It’s been a long week. This was a good game, and we continue to improve,” HHS head coach John Weber said. “At home, we play very, very well. Overall, passing was great this evening. We started out slow, but as the game progressed, passing just improved.
“(Thursday), we were finishing goals. That’s one of the things the last two games prior to tonight we were having trouble with, but we started putting balls in the back of the net, which we haven’t been. The great part is everyone had an opportunity to play in a different position tonight, so we played guys all over the field, including guys that even played in positions they never play. It worked, and it was nice. Overall, it was a great game.”
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In the FAC match, the Indians had Quinn Conlon earn a coveted hat trick by scoring three goals in the match, while Marshall Ward added two goals to the Hillsboro total.
Also scoring one goal each for the Indians were Matt Ryan, Logan Crafton, Andrew Gunderman and Cameron Reed.
The second half saw one of the more impressive goals scored by the Indians with Gunderman netting his goal off a header, via a cross kick by Conlon with 35:39 left in regulation.
Another impressive goal scored by HHS came in the first half when Conlon sent the ball into the back of the net off a cross-kick from Titus Heiser to then make the score 3-0 for the host Indians.
As for the assists, Cameron Reed led the Indians with two, while Tyler Loch, Ward, Conlon and Heiser all had assists as well.
Next for the Indians is a FAC road match on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at Jackson. Also next week, the Indians will be on the road on Thursday, Sept. 28 at Miami Trace, also a FAC contest.
From there, HHS will host two final home matches to wrap up the regular season as they’ll host the Chillicothe Cavaliers on Tuesday, Oct. 3, followed by a regular-season finale on Thursday, Oct. 5 vs. McClain.
“We have four games remaining, and if we can win three out of those four games, you’re talking a 10-win season,” Weber said. “We haven’t seen a double-digit win season for a long time in the boys program, so if we can have that, that would be huge. Playing at Jackson Tuesday night will be a major test.”