LC Mustangs fall in district semifinals

For the second consecutive season, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs were eliminated in the Division III SE District Semifinals by South Webster, this season falling by a 2-1 score on Saturday at Jackson High School.
 
The Mustangs end the season at 12-2-4 overall, winning the boys Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship, along with a sectional title.
 
"This is the second year in a row that we went and played South Webster and played a really solid game," LC head coach Dennis West said. "I felt we had control of the ball most of the first half but just had a couple mistakes."
 
On Saturday at JHS, the Mustangs scored the first goal of the match, with Noah Scott scoring an unassisted goal with 32:14 left on the clock in the first half.
 
That turned out to be the lone goal for the No. 1 seeded Mustangs, as the Jeeps of South Webster took the lead with a goal at the 12:06 mark of the first half off a penalty kick.
 
The lead went to the No. 2 seeded Jeeps with 1:07 left in the first half with their second and final goal of the match. That goal turned out to be the go-ahead, game-winning goal for the Jeeps.
 
West spoke about the two goals scored by the Jeeps.
 

[[In-content Ad]]"One mistake led to a penalty kick and goal," West said. "The other we let on through on a throw in from the corner, and the SW player headed it in a place where Devin couldn't get to it, and that's the way it stood up.
 
"We scored a good goal for the 1-0 lead and were really playing well, until that penalty kick. It took the air out of us for a while."
 
LC keeper Devin Pierson finished with eight saves, with four in each half.
 
West also spoke about the second half.
 
"The second half it was back-and-forth, and they only had five shots in the half. All of these shots were off fouls and all from around the 30-to-35 yard line.
 
"We controlled the ball well, we just couldn't get one in the net. It was just one of this days where we couldn't find the back of the net, and after that first goal, our offense struggled to consistently get the ball in position to do something with it. It was a tough way to lose."
 
Both LC and SW each had 11 shots.
 
Seniors in their final match with the Mustangs were: Josh Groves, Jared McLaughlin, Alex Pinkerton, Ty Setty and Tristan Wilbanks.
 
SW will now play in the district finals on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Jackson High School against the Zane Trace Pioneers at 4 p.m.