Indians soccer wins sectional; advances to district semifinals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
It had been two weeks to the day since the Hillsboro Indians last played a soccer match, and after shaking off the rust of not being in action for those 14 days, the Hillsboro Indians outlasted the visiting Washington Blue Lions by a 3-0 score.
The Thursday night Division II SE District Sectional Final win over the Blue Lions saw the Indians score a goal with the first 10 minutes of play, but for the remainder of the first half, the team just wasn’t as crisp as they had been playing before the two-week layoff.
Never fear, though ... the Indians (11-6-0) defended their home field by getting their tempo back up, controlling possession and eventually adding two more goals in the second half to propel themselves into the district semifinal match.
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“That being the third game we played (Washington) Court House this year, and being it was a two-week layoff since the last game we played, overall we were rusty,” HHS head coach John Weber said. “That first half, we were rusty. It was basically like starting the season over again with a two-week span in between the last time we played.
“The second half, we started to buckle down and pass the ball. We still need to work on our shooting, as we gave away some shots. The second half overall we played well, and credit the goal keeper from Washington Court House … he made some big saves against us. Hats off to his play.”
Hillsboro got on the board early with 34:49 left in the opening half when Marshall Ward put the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
For the remainder of the first half, whenever the Indians did get a shot off at goal, the keeper for the Blue Lions was able to make a stop, but the Indians still controlled the flow of the match.
The second half was much better for the Indians, as they adjusted their style of play and began to look like the team that won 10 regular-season games this season. Following a big save by Hillsboro’s Joe Rudy around the 36-minute mark to keep the Blue Lions off the scoreboard, it was the Indians who were able to add to their lead. That second goal was put into the back of the net by Tyler Loch at the 31:36 mark, with the assist by Ward.
For extra cushion, the Indians scored a third goal with 7:39 left in the tournament match when Cameron Reed placed the ball in the back of the net with the assist by Loch for a three-goal advantage over their Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) counterpart.
Weber also spoke about the defense of the Indians, as this was the third shutout by the Indians since Sept. 28.
“The whole back line is starting to have excellent communication, and the passing from the back has improved light years from where it was last year,” he said. “We are making passes from the back line, which is great to see.”
This was the third time this season Hillsboro defeated the Blue Lions. In conference play during the regular season, the Indians won over Washington by scores of 9-1 (at HHS) and 4-3 (at WCH).
Next for the Indians is a Division II SE District Semifinals match on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at Logan High School when the Indians will face the winner of Marietta and Unioto at 7 p.m.
“It will be a challenging game on Tuesday, but each game will be harder from here on out,” Weber said. “You have to win them, but there are things we have to improve on. Playing on turf, we have to clean up our passing because the speed of play will be faster.
“Overall, I’m happy with the performance in the second half, and hats off to Washington Court House … they came to play.”
The Thursday night Division II SE District Sectional Final win over the Blue Lions saw the Indians score a goal with the first 10 minutes of play, but for the remainder of the first half, the team just wasn’t as crisp as they had been playing before the two-week layoff.
Never fear, though ... the Indians (11-6-0) defended their home field by getting their tempo back up, controlling possession and eventually adding two more goals in the second half to propel themselves into the district semifinal match.
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“That being the third game we played (Washington) Court House this year, and being it was a two-week layoff since the last game we played, overall we were rusty,” HHS head coach John Weber said. “That first half, we were rusty. It was basically like starting the season over again with a two-week span in between the last time we played.
“The second half, we started to buckle down and pass the ball. We still need to work on our shooting, as we gave away some shots. The second half overall we played well, and credit the goal keeper from Washington Court House … he made some big saves against us. Hats off to his play.”
Hillsboro got on the board early with 34:49 left in the opening half when Marshall Ward put the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
For the remainder of the first half, whenever the Indians did get a shot off at goal, the keeper for the Blue Lions was able to make a stop, but the Indians still controlled the flow of the match.
The second half was much better for the Indians, as they adjusted their style of play and began to look like the team that won 10 regular-season games this season. Following a big save by Hillsboro’s Joe Rudy around the 36-minute mark to keep the Blue Lions off the scoreboard, it was the Indians who were able to add to their lead. That second goal was put into the back of the net by Tyler Loch at the 31:36 mark, with the assist by Ward.
For extra cushion, the Indians scored a third goal with 7:39 left in the tournament match when Cameron Reed placed the ball in the back of the net with the assist by Loch for a three-goal advantage over their Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) counterpart.
Weber also spoke about the defense of the Indians, as this was the third shutout by the Indians since Sept. 28.
“The whole back line is starting to have excellent communication, and the passing from the back has improved light years from where it was last year,” he said. “We are making passes from the back line, which is great to see.”
This was the third time this season Hillsboro defeated the Blue Lions. In conference play during the regular season, the Indians won over Washington by scores of 9-1 (at HHS) and 4-3 (at WCH).
Next for the Indians is a Division II SE District Semifinals match on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at Logan High School when the Indians will face the winner of Marietta and Unioto at 7 p.m.
“It will be a challenging game on Tuesday, but each game will be harder from here on out,” Weber said. “You have to win them, but there are things we have to improve on. Playing on turf, we have to clean up our passing because the speed of play will be faster.
“Overall, I’m happy with the performance in the second half, and hats off to Washington Court House … they came to play.”