Mustangs advance in postseason
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — The No. 3-seeded Lynchburg-Clay overcame a downpour of rain for the entire match to advance to the Division III District Semifinals by defeating the Valley Indians 4-1 Wednesday night for a sectional championship.
"Given the conditions, I thought we played well," LC coach Dennis West said. "With the steady rain, the field held up, and I am happy to keep moving on in the tournament."
West isn't a fan of the rainy weather when it comes to this year's team.
"This type of weather doesn't allow us to play our type of game," he said. "We are a team with speed, and we'd rather have a day where it was better weather conditions."
The win advances the Mustangs, who improve to 10-4-3 on the season, to a district semifinal match against the Peebles Indians on Monday, Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. at PHS. Both teams are members of the Southern Hills League. In their lone match in '11, the Mustangs defeated PHS 3-2 early in the season.
On Wednesday Peebles defeated West Union 8-1.
"We'll have to play really well on their field," West said. "Peebles has a good team."
On a wet and sloppy Wednesday night, the Mustangs scored their first goal in a flash, 47 seconds into the match with Gage Waits blazing the ball into the back of the Valley net for a 1-0 lead, leaving 39:13 remaining in the first half.
The Mustangs went to a 2-0 lead when Mason Jordan kicked the ball past the Valley defense with 29:53 left in the opening half. The assist was credited to Wes Pierson.
Waits wasn't finished in the first half, scoring his second goal of the match with 15:21 remaining. His goal, kicked from 25 yards away, sailed high and just made it past the leaping keeper and into the back of the net for the three-goal advantage.
Valley, who finish the season with one tournament win and five wins overall, scored their goal with 5:37 remaining in the first half as Ethan Arbaugh kicked the goal into the right side of the net.
The final Mustangs goal came in the second half when Pierson made it a 4-1 score, leaving 15:21 on the scoreboard clock. Pierson's goal came from nearly 15 yards away.
LC not only provided offense, as they controlled possession of the ball for a majority of the game, their defense was on top of their game as well, even in the muddy conditions.
Matthew West finished with 15 saves at goal. One of his biggest saves came in the second half with 23:50 left in regulation, keeping the Indians at one goal.
Seven players helped play defense for the Mustangs, a defense that kept Valley to 20 shots at goal in 80 minutes of action. The defensive rotation consisted of Colt West, Matt Greenawalt, Zach Pingleton, Cody Griffith, Dakota Baker, Josh Groves and Bryce Pfister.
"We had good play from our defense," West said. "They all played well, and we got a lot of them playing time."[[In-content Ad]]
"Given the conditions, I thought we played well," LC coach Dennis West said. "With the steady rain, the field held up, and I am happy to keep moving on in the tournament."
West isn't a fan of the rainy weather when it comes to this year's team.
"This type of weather doesn't allow us to play our type of game," he said. "We are a team with speed, and we'd rather have a day where it was better weather conditions."
The win advances the Mustangs, who improve to 10-4-3 on the season, to a district semifinal match against the Peebles Indians on Monday, Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. at PHS. Both teams are members of the Southern Hills League. In their lone match in '11, the Mustangs defeated PHS 3-2 early in the season.
On Wednesday Peebles defeated West Union 8-1.
"We'll have to play really well on their field," West said. "Peebles has a good team."
On a wet and sloppy Wednesday night, the Mustangs scored their first goal in a flash, 47 seconds into the match with Gage Waits blazing the ball into the back of the Valley net for a 1-0 lead, leaving 39:13 remaining in the first half.
The Mustangs went to a 2-0 lead when Mason Jordan kicked the ball past the Valley defense with 29:53 left in the opening half. The assist was credited to Wes Pierson.
Waits wasn't finished in the first half, scoring his second goal of the match with 15:21 remaining. His goal, kicked from 25 yards away, sailed high and just made it past the leaping keeper and into the back of the net for the three-goal advantage.
Valley, who finish the season with one tournament win and five wins overall, scored their goal with 5:37 remaining in the first half as Ethan Arbaugh kicked the goal into the right side of the net.
The final Mustangs goal came in the second half when Pierson made it a 4-1 score, leaving 15:21 on the scoreboard clock. Pierson's goal came from nearly 15 yards away.
LC not only provided offense, as they controlled possession of the ball for a majority of the game, their defense was on top of their game as well, even in the muddy conditions.
Matthew West finished with 15 saves at goal. One of his biggest saves came in the second half with 23:50 left in regulation, keeping the Indians at one goal.
Seven players helped play defense for the Mustangs, a defense that kept Valley to 20 shots at goal in 80 minutes of action. The defensive rotation consisted of Colt West, Matt Greenawalt, Zach Pingleton, Cody Griffith, Dakota Baker, Josh Groves and Bryce Pfister.
"We had good play from our defense," West said. "They all played well, and we got a lot of them playing time."[[In-content Ad]]