Mustangs win on Senior Night; stay undefeated
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — On the Lynchburg-Clay boys soccer team's Senior Night, they not only defeated the Blanchester Wildcats, 3-0, but kept their undefeated record intact with one regular season game remaining.
The game with Zane Trace, a non-league contest, is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start Saturday at LCHS.
On Thursday, three LC seniors were honored in Matt McCammon, Colin Creek and Perry Branham. In their four years at LC they are 45-14-8 overall with two SHL titles, one SHL 2nd place finish, two sectional titles and two district tournament apperances.
"Colin is going to be missed," LC coach Chris Tipton said. "He's been our keeper since his sophomore year."
McCammon was injured in the second game of the season at McClain Field against the Tigers but has stayed with the team all season during the SHL championship run. He, along with Branham and Creek, are all captains.
"Matt gave everything he had and played with everything. He would play his hardest each time he stepped onto the field. It's a shame what happened to him, he was improving."
LC coach Dennis West also talked about McCammon.
"He worked so hard and he got better each year. This was going to be the year he put it all together."
The third senior the coaches spoke about was Branham.
"Perry works hard and has a lot of talent," Tipton and West both said.
As for the game Thursday, the 13th win of the season for LC, it was a scoreless first half with many missed opportunities by the Mustangs.
The second half was a different story, with LC scoring three times, twice by junior forward Michael Smith.
"It was a win," West said. "We played better in the second half. In the first half, we weren't very good offensively. Just not very good.
"We continued to try to put the ball in an area where were it wasn't going to lead to any success. We were forcing it, and we are smarter than that."
Smith didn't score the first goal of the game; that honor went to junior Tyler Davidson at the 31:31 mark when he beat the keeper on a one-on-one opportunity, kicking the ball into the left side of the net.
Smith followed less than four minutes later with a goal near the keeper for a two-goal LC advantage. The assist was credited to sophomore Matt West.
Smith scored the final goal with 25:38 left in the game. The game continued to be physical, with the one-win Wlldcats getting a yellow card and LC a warning with 24 minutes left in the game.
Zach Mahoney and Douglas Cooper, both freshmen, also put the pressure on near the Blanchester keeper late in the game for the Mustangs.
This was the first LC boys soccer game since they won the SHL title last Friday at Fayetteville.
"We haven't played in almost a week, and it showed," West said. "We were rusty, but we got our legs under us in the second half. Our passing game got better in the second half, and I just feel we were overlooking Blanchester."
The defense of LC held Blanchester to just six total shots at goal for the game, with zero in the second half. Creek had five saves.
LC out-shot BHS, 31-6.
The Mustangs stand at 13-0-2 overall.