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Tigers rally late; defeat Indians for sectional title

Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — This year, the sectional final had a different outcome for the McClain Tigers.

No. 1 seed McClain's 2-1 comeback victory over the Hillsboro Indians on Saturday was what coach Shawn Jackson called a "monkey off their back" as the previous two years the Tigers lost their sectional final match at McClain Field, ending previous postseasons just as they were set to begin.

Not this year for the reigning three-peat South Central Ohio League champions.

"The monkey is off our back," Jackson said with a smile on his face. "It is gone.

"We knew Hillsboro was going to come in and play tough as they do always. We got down early, turned it around in the second half … and I'm just so proud of them. So proud of them. I can't ask any more from these guys."

Hillsboro coach John Weber praised both teams on Saturday.

"Both teams played a heck of a game," he said. "It was a very physical game and probably the hardest we played all year.

"Their (MHS) two (goals) were solid shots, but we just misplayed the man. Our guys wanted this game, and you could tell that. It's just a tough loss. This is like the last time we played here: we had the game in check, but we let it slip away in the last 10 or 15 minutes."

This time, in their third match of the season with the No. 5 seeded Hillsboro Indians, senior captain Luis Rivas put the game on his shoulders and in doing that scored two late goals for the Division II SE District Sectional Final win over the Indians at McClain Field for their first-ever sectional title.

In their previous two meetings in '11, the teams tied 1-1 and McClain won 4-2.

The Tigers (16-0-1) trailed from the 17:04 mark of the first half until the 11:07 mark of the second half when Rivas tied the match at 1-1 with a goal on the right side of the net.

Mirroring the second match against each other, the Tigers rallied late and scored the game-winning goal with 2:10 left on the scoreboard with Rivas scoring off a rebound for the 2-1 score.

"He got in there and got both goals," Jackson said of Rivas. "That's why he's one of the captains … he had to get in there and score, and he never lets us down. He just keeps going and keeps going.

"Luis keeps the team positive, and we were very fortunate to come out of here with a 2-1 win and to get our first sectional championship."

The first goal of the match, which was the third meeting between the two teams in '11, came off the foot of Hillsboro's Jonathan Jacky just past the midway point of the first half (17:04). The goal was near the net, off rebounds as both team were battling close by the net.

"Just like Shawn (Jackson) has said all year … they (MHS) have a strong outing after their adversity. The big thing is every time they have their backs against the wall, they are able to pull it out," Weber said. "That's the major thing … we couldn't hold on, and the boys played excellent."

This sectional final was more about scoring with McClain senior keeper Ryan Case and Hillsboro senior keeper Corey Walker putting on valiant displays at the net, with each player making spectacular saves at the goal.

In the first half, it was "Big" Case who made the first big save of the match with a diving stop. Hillsboro, who were the aggressors for most of the match, had corner kick opportunities, just missing goals.

Walker had to do the same for the Indians with a save at the 32:40 mark of the first half on a McClain direct kick.

"Corey played an excellent game," Weber said. "He played the same way he played at Fairfield-Union. In fact, our defense played well … we shut down a lot of their players, but the two goals Rivas got … he's a solid player, and that is Rivas being Rivas.

McClain almost scored again with Trey Lytle just missing his target on a header as the ball bounced off the bottom left post with 31:15 left in the opening half. The same fate went to HHS as well, with a header opportunity by Brandon Wilson just missing the back of the net with 30:00 left in the first half.

The defenses of both squads continued to protect their goals with a sliding stop by Jerrod White and another timely save by Case with a lot of pressure from the HHS defense. Another shot by the Indians bounced off the top crossbar around the 23:30 mark of the first half.

Another save by Walker, then a wide-left direct kick by McClain and a one-handed stop by Case kept the score at zero with 17:40 on the scoreboard in the first half.

As the McClain defense continued to be pressured, it was only a matter of time until the ball landed in the back of the net. That happened when the aforementioned goal by Jacky landed in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead by HHS.

As the Tigers trailed by one goal at halftime, the match had something in common with their previous two games as the halftime scores of those matches were 1-0 scores.

"This was a very tense game, and it gave me a migraine," Jackson said. "I get them all the time. Being undefeated, in the sectional final for the third year in a row … it was like Ali vs. Frazier. It is all the way down … I'm just glad Ali got the win this time."

The longer the match continued, the more intense the atmosphere became, and the Tiger fans let out a sigh of relief with 11:07 left in the match when Rivas scored his first goal, tying the match at 1-1.

Rivas continued to pressure the Indians, then with 2:10 left in regulation, he put his team up for good with a goal and the 2-1 score.

"This season so far is like a fairy tale," Jackson said. "We are going to enjoy the ride and ride it as long as we can."

Weber spoke about his seniors following the loss.

"I appreciate everything they did this season," he said. "They are super upset at the moment, but that's because they gave so much in this game and had the same result as last time. The only difference is we held it together for the entire 80 minutes this time."

McClain will travel to Valley High School in Lucasville on Wednesday for their district semifinal match against No. 3 Waverly, who won 2-1 over No. 2 Marietta on Saturday. The district semifinal match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

"We've never been there (districts) and get to go play on the turf. We have some work to do, and we'll be ready to play when it comes time to play," Jackson said.


BOX SCORE
HHS 
   1 0 — 1
MHS    0 2 — 2[[In-content Ad]]

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