Davis scores 4 goals in Indians’ win at McClain
Hillsboro senior Tate Davis scored all four goals for the Indians in their shutout win over McClain Thursday at MHS. Pictured for McClain is senior Nathan Alvarez. (HCP Photos/Jim Jones)
The McClain varsity boys soccer team put up a valiant effort Thursday night vs. Hillsboro on senior night, but it was too much Tate Davis, who scored all four goals in the Indians’ 4-0 shutout over the Tigers in Greenfield.
Davis didn’t score his first goal until the 23:23 mark of the opening half but netted two more later in the half for a hat trick and put Hillsboro on top 3-0 at halftime.
“I told my boys that Greenfield has definitely improved a lot since the first time we played them, and they’re a good team, so hats off to them,” said Hillsboro head coach Ben Howland. “This was a pretty physical game, and we play mostly on turf, so our guys wanted to get a little dirt on them when they came here.”
The Tigers played very well defensively in the opening half despite trailing by the 3-0 score, but Davis didn’t get his third goal until there was just 25 seconds left on the clock before intermission.
“Our defense has really improved over the last couple of games and are playing so much better,” said McClain head coach John Gill. “Really everything that we’re doing right now is a big improvement.
“We know we have to battle to stay in these tough FAC [Frontier Athletic Conference] games now, and today’s results were from individual errors, but in no time did we collapse as a team, and earlier this year that wasn’t happening.”
The Indians scored the only goal of the second half on Davis’ fourth with only 10:17 left in the contest.
“I thought my guys played very well tonight and held them to just that one goal in the entire second half, and that was an absolute ripper by Davis,” Gill said. “But besides that one, Hillsboro really didn’t get a lot of scoring chances in the second half, and I actually thought we had more scoring opportunities than them.”
Coach Howland talked a little about what Davis and his team’s overall performance has meant to their 10-5 record on the season.
“I’ve got a great bunch of kids. It’s been really enjoyable coaching them this year,” Howland said. “Tate (Davis) scored all four goals for us, and I think he had four different people make really nice assists to him, so he probably needs to thank a few guys.
“We’ve got a lot of speed, and even though we’re a little banged up, we got some younger guys into the game tonight to get a little piece of the action, and it was fun.”
It was senior night for five McClain seniors, Jordan Lugo, Rayden Daugherty, Nicolas Alvarez, Nathan Alvarez and Gustavo Simas, who were honored before the game. Coach Gill spoke a little about what they’ve meant to his team and the program.
“As a group, my five seniors kind of keep us human,” Gill said. “They are all really funny, but they can calm everyone down during some intense moments between players.
“They are all great leaders and role models, especially Jordan (Lugo) and Rayden (Daugherty), who are both captains and wonderful representatives of this team and how hard they work.”
Hillsboro will next play Peebles at home Monday, Oct. 7 and then entertain Clinton-Massie on Thursday, Oct. 10.
McClain traveled to Westfall on Saturday, Oct. 5 and picked up a big 2-0 shutout victory. They will next travel to Fairfield on Monday, Oct. 7 and return home to host Eastern Brown on Wednesday, Oct. 9 in their final regular-season contest.
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