Mustangs repeat as SHAC champs
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
SEAMAN — For the second consecutive season, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs are champions of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
Last season, the Mustangs were undefeated/untied in the SHAC, and this season, using their defense as the catalyst of their program, they didn't lose a match in the SHAC, finishing with a conference record of 6-0-1. The tie came against Eastern Brown in a scoreless tie.
Overall, LC is 11-1-4 on the season.
But if there ever was a team that used the old sports motto "defense wins championships," it was the 2014 LC Mustangs.
The Mustangs totaled six shutouts in their seven SHAC matches this season. They outscored their SHAC opponents, 26-1. For the past two championship seasons, the Mustangs are 13-0-1 in the conference.
"We shortened our bench a little bit (Wednesday)," LC head coach Dennis West said. "Three of the guys back on defense played the entire match, and we substituted for Austin Chisman a couple times and got good play from Josh Groves when we did that.
"It was just an outstanding game for us. Devin (Pierson) just makes save after save. Morgan Ryan was our keeper down at Eastern, and we've had good keeper play from both of them. It makes a big difference when you've got a good defense and you've got somebody back there that'll stop anything that gets through, and we certainly had that tonight and this year."
Though their defense did their job for the entire match, as it was officially called due to darkness with 18:48 left in the second half, LC did score the one goal they needed with 26:46 left in the first half.
The goal came from freshman Ethan Garrison, with a goal around 18 yards. His kick went past the diving keeper of the Green Devils at an angle to the right side of the net.
"This was a highly intense game, and a very, very physical game," West said. "We kept our composure, and we got a goal from a freshman and made it stand up. This is the same type of game we played down at Fayetteville.
[[In-content Ad]]"I was telling the boys, we beat the three teams behind us all on the road this year: Fayetteville, North Adams and Eastern Brown. We beat them each, two of them 1-0 and Eastern 4-1 (non-conference). That shows what kind of team they are and how well they can stand up to pressure."
From there, the match was full of very physical play, close goals and a lot of defense.
With LC leading 1-0 in the first half, the game became more intense the darker the sky got at North Adams High School, as Blake Croy made a big stop at the goal with 20:37 left in the first half, followed by Devin Pierson making a one-handed leaping save at the goal with 12:15 on the scoreboard. Pierson finished the match with eight saves.
Wes Smith showed the defensive strength he has had all season, with the junior making a stop with 9:09 left in the opening half, keeping the one-goal lead for the Mustangs.
At the end of the first half, LC nearly doubled their lead, but a goal was called a no-goal as time had already expired. LC out-shot the Green Devils, 8-6 in the first half.
What was already a physical match became an even more toughly played contest to start the second half, as the Mustangs, again, had a couple near-goal opportunities but were just shy of adding to their lead.
Eventually, the game was called due to darkness with just under 20 minutes left in the SHAC match.
For the match, LC out-shot the host Green Devils, 14-6, with all six NA shots coming in the first half.
But at the end of the day, it was about the Mustangs being the SHAC champions once again.
"It was kind of unexpected because we lost quite a few seniors from last year and had a lot of new people coming in," West said. "We didn't know what to expect. I'm not sure anybody else expected us to be this good. We just had a great group.
"They really have picked up, and we've just gotten better and better. We've had a string of five wins in a row. They've just kept stepping up and making improvements. They're a fun bunch to coach. We just keep running people out there, and they just step up."
Last season, the Mustangs were undefeated/untied in the SHAC, and this season, using their defense as the catalyst of their program, they didn't lose a match in the SHAC, finishing with a conference record of 6-0-1. The tie came against Eastern Brown in a scoreless tie.
Overall, LC is 11-1-4 on the season.
But if there ever was a team that used the old sports motto "defense wins championships," it was the 2014 LC Mustangs.
The Mustangs totaled six shutouts in their seven SHAC matches this season. They outscored their SHAC opponents, 26-1. For the past two championship seasons, the Mustangs are 13-0-1 in the conference.
"We shortened our bench a little bit (Wednesday)," LC head coach Dennis West said. "Three of the guys back on defense played the entire match, and we substituted for Austin Chisman a couple times and got good play from Josh Groves when we did that.
"It was just an outstanding game for us. Devin (Pierson) just makes save after save. Morgan Ryan was our keeper down at Eastern, and we've had good keeper play from both of them. It makes a big difference when you've got a good defense and you've got somebody back there that'll stop anything that gets through, and we certainly had that tonight and this year."
Though their defense did their job for the entire match, as it was officially called due to darkness with 18:48 left in the second half, LC did score the one goal they needed with 26:46 left in the first half.
The goal came from freshman Ethan Garrison, with a goal around 18 yards. His kick went past the diving keeper of the Green Devils at an angle to the right side of the net.
"This was a highly intense game, and a very, very physical game," West said. "We kept our composure, and we got a goal from a freshman and made it stand up. This is the same type of game we played down at Fayetteville.
[[In-content Ad]]"I was telling the boys, we beat the three teams behind us all on the road this year: Fayetteville, North Adams and Eastern Brown. We beat them each, two of them 1-0 and Eastern 4-1 (non-conference). That shows what kind of team they are and how well they can stand up to pressure."
From there, the match was full of very physical play, close goals and a lot of defense.
With LC leading 1-0 in the first half, the game became more intense the darker the sky got at North Adams High School, as Blake Croy made a big stop at the goal with 20:37 left in the first half, followed by Devin Pierson making a one-handed leaping save at the goal with 12:15 on the scoreboard. Pierson finished the match with eight saves.
Wes Smith showed the defensive strength he has had all season, with the junior making a stop with 9:09 left in the opening half, keeping the one-goal lead for the Mustangs.
At the end of the first half, LC nearly doubled their lead, but a goal was called a no-goal as time had already expired. LC out-shot the Green Devils, 8-6 in the first half.
What was already a physical match became an even more toughly played contest to start the second half, as the Mustangs, again, had a couple near-goal opportunities but were just shy of adding to their lead.
Eventually, the game was called due to darkness with just under 20 minutes left in the SHAC match.
For the match, LC out-shot the host Green Devils, 14-6, with all six NA shots coming in the first half.
But at the end of the day, it was about the Mustangs being the SHAC champions once again.
"It was kind of unexpected because we lost quite a few seniors from last year and had a lot of new people coming in," West said. "We didn't know what to expect. I'm not sure anybody else expected us to be this good. We just had a great group.
"They really have picked up, and we've just gotten better and better. We've had a string of five wins in a row. They've just kept stepping up and making improvements. They're a fun bunch to coach. We just keep running people out there, and they just step up."