McClain Tigers fend off late-charging Hillsboro Indians for FAC rival win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — Scoring four consecutive goals to end the first half and at the start of the second half proved to be just enough for the host McClain Tigers on Tuesday night against their Highland County and conference foe Hillsboro. The Indians battled back to within a goal of the Tigers, but once the final buzzer sounded at McClain Field, it was McClain on top by a 4-3 final score for the Frontier Athletic Conference victory.
The Indians were first to score in the match and take the lead with around 32 minutes left in the opening half, with the goal coming from Peyton Robinson.
That lead lasted around 20 minutes, with the next goal, a game-tying goal by the Tigers, coming with the McClain scoreboard reading 12:26 as Lyle White blasted the ball past the keeper for a 1-1 tied match.
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The tie stood for around 11 minutes with the Tigers adding a goal with 1:07 left on the clock off a goal by Haydon Hice. That was followed less than a minute later with a goal by McClain’s Griffin Foltz, leaving 13 seconds on the clock for a 3-1 halftime lead for the Tigers.
McClain added to their total in the early stages of the second half with White scoring his second goal of the match with 38:35 remaining in regulation, as that goal ended up being the final goal of the match for McClain.
Hillsboro began their charge back with two goals in a span of a few minutes as Hunter Hice had goals at the 28:30 mark and with 26:53 left in the match for what turned out to be the final score of the match at 4-3.
“We came out in the first half, and we let Hillsboro go up on us and the first 25 minutes we didn’t play our best game,” McClain head coach Nick McNeal said. “The last 15 minutes of the first half, we definitely came through and started playing with intensity, and we scored one goal and poked in a couple more. This kids were fired up, they played hard and they played like the team I know they can play like.
“In the second half, we came out and my guys still had that fire going, and they kept it up. Raymond Daugherty made a beautiful pass to Lyle, and he finished it and went up 4-1. Hillsboro scored a couple goals and made the score 4-3, making it a very, very tight close game, and it was a good rivalry game.”
That score was nearly tied as Hillsboro battled strong and put pressure in front of the goal defended by the Tigers, but McClain’s defense held up and took care themselves to protect their one-goal lead as time expired. The final stop of the match was off a corner kick by the Indians with 9.0 left in the match, but as previously mentioned, the Tigers stood their ground and held on to the lead.
“We went down early, and we fought back and put in two goals in the second half,” HHS head coach Adam Schelling said. “The boys played hard and didn’t give up. We had opportunities to tie the game up, just couldn’t capitalize.”
McClain head coach McNeal also spoke about the final moments of the FAC match.
“I’m happy we handled the pressure well late, and I just wished we would have kicked the ball to the other side of the field, but that doesn’t always happen,” McNeal said. “Hillsboro did a great job, they obviously studied us and they played a good game against us. I’m happy with the win.”
The win sends the Tigers to an overall record of 5-4-0 overall with a 2-3-0 mark in the FAC. The Indians are now 2-6-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the FAC.
Next for McClain is a home match on Thursday, Sept. 19 vs. the Washington Blue Lions in FAC action.
The Indians will also play again Thursday, Sept. 19 at Chillicothe in an FAC contest.
The Indians were first to score in the match and take the lead with around 32 minutes left in the opening half, with the goal coming from Peyton Robinson.
That lead lasted around 20 minutes, with the next goal, a game-tying goal by the Tigers, coming with the McClain scoreboard reading 12:26 as Lyle White blasted the ball past the keeper for a 1-1 tied match.
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The tie stood for around 11 minutes with the Tigers adding a goal with 1:07 left on the clock off a goal by Haydon Hice. That was followed less than a minute later with a goal by McClain’s Griffin Foltz, leaving 13 seconds on the clock for a 3-1 halftime lead for the Tigers.
McClain added to their total in the early stages of the second half with White scoring his second goal of the match with 38:35 remaining in regulation, as that goal ended up being the final goal of the match for McClain.
Hillsboro began their charge back with two goals in a span of a few minutes as Hunter Hice had goals at the 28:30 mark and with 26:53 left in the match for what turned out to be the final score of the match at 4-3.
“We came out in the first half, and we let Hillsboro go up on us and the first 25 minutes we didn’t play our best game,” McClain head coach Nick McNeal said. “The last 15 minutes of the first half, we definitely came through and started playing with intensity, and we scored one goal and poked in a couple more. This kids were fired up, they played hard and they played like the team I know they can play like.
“In the second half, we came out and my guys still had that fire going, and they kept it up. Raymond Daugherty made a beautiful pass to Lyle, and he finished it and went up 4-1. Hillsboro scored a couple goals and made the score 4-3, making it a very, very tight close game, and it was a good rivalry game.”
That score was nearly tied as Hillsboro battled strong and put pressure in front of the goal defended by the Tigers, but McClain’s defense held up and took care themselves to protect their one-goal lead as time expired. The final stop of the match was off a corner kick by the Indians with 9.0 left in the match, but as previously mentioned, the Tigers stood their ground and held on to the lead.
“We went down early, and we fought back and put in two goals in the second half,” HHS head coach Adam Schelling said. “The boys played hard and didn’t give up. We had opportunities to tie the game up, just couldn’t capitalize.”
McClain head coach McNeal also spoke about the final moments of the FAC match.
“I’m happy we handled the pressure well late, and I just wished we would have kicked the ball to the other side of the field, but that doesn’t always happen,” McNeal said. “Hillsboro did a great job, they obviously studied us and they played a good game against us. I’m happy with the win.”
The win sends the Tigers to an overall record of 5-4-0 overall with a 2-3-0 mark in the FAC. The Indians are now 2-6-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the FAC.
Next for McClain is a home match on Thursday, Sept. 19 vs. the Washington Blue Lions in FAC action.
The Indians will also play again Thursday, Sept. 19 at Chillicothe in an FAC contest.