McClain scores 2 late goals to tie Fairfield

It was another classic battle Monday, Oct. 7 in Greenfield when the visiting Fairfield Lions and McClain Tigers played to a 5-5 tie on senior night.

It was also the final time that seniors Ethan Eakins, Creed Davis, Brynnen Babbs, Zion Barron and Jayden Lanning would play on McClain Field.

Like in the girl’ game played earlier, the rain made the field slippery and the ball hard to control the entire night.

Fairfield scored first when senior Quentin McIntosh found the back of the net at the 32:40 mark of the opening quarter. The Lions wasted little time scoring again on a goal by Blake Walters at the 30:11 mark, and McClain trailed early, 2-0.

The Tigers battled back moments later, registering an own goal with 26:30 left in the first period and cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Neither team was able to score over the next 25 minutes until Creed Davis scored for the Tigers off a deflection close to the net with just 59 seconds to tie the game at 2-2.

Fairfield regained the lead seconds later on a shot by Logan Burgess, giving the Lions a slim 3-2 halftime advantage.

The second half started with McIntosh scoring his second goal of the game on a header just in front of the net at the 27:30 mark, giving Fairfield a little cushion and a 4-2 lead. But the no-quit Tigers fought back and cut the lead to one again, on Davis’ second goal of the match, making it 4-3 with only 15:23 remaining in the contest.

McIntosh’s third goal and second header looked like it would ice the game for the Lions with just 3:34 showing on the clock, until McClain’s Brayden (“Stix”) Shover converted a penalty kick at the 2:28 mark, trimming the deficit to 5-4.

It looked like the Tigers would suffer another hard-luck defeat with the game clock winding down when Janson Allison scored an unbelievable shot off a deflection with 18 seconds remaining to tie the game and send the hometown crowd into a frenzy, which is how the game ended.

“What a crazy game,” McClain head coach John Gill said. “We were not going to lose this game. I thought we came out ready to play tonight, maybe not ready for the rain.

“I thought the rain really did affect our play a little bit because there was a lot of slipping and sliding and both keepers’ gloves were wet and the ball was going all over the place.

“Fairfield is a local rivalry that is always a physical game,” Gill continued. “Last year we lost 2-0 over there, and we couldn’t find a goal. This year we score five, so that’s a big difference from last year.”

Coach Gill talked about his five seniors and how much they’ve meant to his program.

“These seniors were just sophomores when I became head coach, and none of them were starters, and Zion (Barron) just came out last year,” Gill said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do without them next year, it’s going to be a completely different team, so I’m just super proud of what they’ve meant to this program.

“They’ve all worked really hard and never give up, just like tonight, down two goals late and come back to tie.”

Fairfield head coach Jacob Alexander spoke about his team’s performance after a hard-fought game.

“This game was very physical, and it’s always going to be with the history and the rivalry,” Alexander said. “It was really hard-fought by both teams, and we kind of let up at the end.

“We didn’t play a clean end of the game and panicked a lot after the injury to Easton Zink, our starting freshman midfielder, who was injured late in the game. It was a big collision between two players, and I think it really shook us up.

“We’re a young team, and yeah we scored five goals tonight, but we’ve still got some things to clean up in the back, and we had that silly foul at the end, so now we need to learn and get better from it,” Alexander continued. 

Fairfield closes out the regular season when they host Lynchburg-Clay Wednesday, Oct. 8 on senior night. The Lions open tournament play when they host Western Latham on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

McClain travels to Whiteoak Wednesday, Oct. 8 for a regular-season finale, then open tournament play when they travel to Logan Elm on Thursday, Oct. 16. McClain defeated Logan Elm on the road in the second game of the season.