Big first half propels Miami Trace over McClain

It was a tale of two halves Tuesday night in Greenfield, where the McClain boy’s soccer team lost to Miami Trace by a 7-3 final score.

In the opening 40 minutes of play, the Panthers pretty much dominated the game on both ends of the field and led 5-1 at the half.

The Tigers’ only score of the first half came on an impressive goal by senior Creed Davis, who got a great assist from newcomer Gustavo Simas at the 6:02 mark.

“We knew tonight was going to be difficult for us after getting home really late from our game at Circleville last night,” said McClain head coach John Gill. “I tried to get as many kids into the game tonight, giving them minutes and resting our starters some and keeping them fresh.”

After a sluggish first half, McClain came out in the second period and played with a lot more energy and enthusiasm against the much more experienced and talented Miami Trace team and played them pretty much even.

Both teams scored two goals each in the second half with both Tiger goals coming from Simas.

“We conceded a few goals early in the match tonight which has happened several times this year,” Gill said “But we made some tactical adjustments at halftime, and I thought our kids played much better in the second half when things really started working well for us.”

“Gustavo Simas, our new player and foreign exchange student who hasn’t played in too many games this year, looked really good tonight and banged in a couple of nice goals for us.

“I was really proud of the way our guys came out in the second half and played very well,” Gill continued. “Last year when we got behind our team seemed to give up, but this year’s group of guys, like you saw tonight, didn’t do that.

“We’ve got Chillicothe at home Thursday, and that will be another big test for us.”

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