Lady Tigers lose to Eastern Brown
Pictured is McClain senior Baylee Hickok (24) vs. Eastern on Monday at McClain Field in Greenfield. (HCP Photos/Jim Jones)
GREENFIELD — After suffering a disappointing 1-0 loss last week to Hillsboro on senior night, the Lady Tigers hosted another tough opponent in Eastern Brown on Monday, Oct. 12.
The first half was very closely played by both teams and the Lady Warriors scored the only goal of the half at the 9:29 mark to lead 1-0 at intermission.
In the second half both offenses picked it up and saw Eastern Brown outscore McClain 3-2, and hold on for a 4-2 non-conference win.
Eastern’s Alanna Mussleman scored the first and only goal of the opening half, but McClain’s sophomore Kaleigh Scott tied the game at 1-1 early in the second half from a nice assist by senior Paisley Pryor.
The tie was short-lived because moments later the Lady Warriors got two quick goals by senior captain McKenna Corbin and suddenly Eastern Brown led 3-1 at the midway point of the second half.
Mussleman gave the Lady Warriors some breathing room with just 15:13 remaining in regulation when she scored on a nice shot.
McClain looked like they would get back in it when senior Larah Henson knocked in a goal from in close off a deflected shot by Pryor at the 13:04 mark, but neither team was able to score over the final 13 minutes as Eastern Brown won with a hard-fought 4-2 victory.
“Eastern Brown is a really good team and the number one seed in their sectional, but I felt like if we had played like we did against Hillsboro, we could have won,” McClain head coach Blain Bergstrom said. “It looked like we were just going through the motions there for about 10 minutes after we scored and tied the game.
“You would have thought the momentum would have changed in our favor after that, but it didn’t.”
Despite the hard-luck loss Coach Bergstrom still had lots of praise for his first-year senior goal-keeper Izzy Carter.
“I thought Izzy (Carter) did some really good things tonight, especially in the first half, she made a couple of really great saves for us,” he said.
The Lady Tigers close out the regular season when they travel to Circleville on Saturday, Oct.17 for another non-conference game.
McClain drew the No. 2 seed in their sectional tournament pairings and will host a first round game at home on Thursday, Oct. 22 when they will play the winner of Circleville and New Lexington. Game time is at 6 p.m. at McClain Field.
