Tommy Free hat-trick leads McClain over Lynchburg-Clay

GREENFIELD — The McClain Tigers opened up their 2014 season with a game that saw them play effective team soccer, making crisp passes and controlling the tempo of the game against the visiting Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs.

All of that added up to a 4-0 victory for the Tigers against their Highland County counterpart from the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.

"This is a good way to open the season," McClain head coach Jon Chamblin said. "The team surprised me as they came out and passed the ball well, and there was a lot of communication. They looked really good, and practice paid off."

In the first half, the McClain Tigers dominated all aspects of the first half against the visiting Mustangs with their 3-0 halftime advantage.

The first goal of the season for the Tigers came with 36:30 left in the first half with senior Tommy Free scoring a goal close to the net.

A few minutes after the first goal, the Tigers took a two-goal advantage with junior Moritz Rehra putting the ball past the keeper at the 33:18 mark of the first half.

"We came out flat, and I don't know if we ever recovered," LC head coach Dennis West said. "We certainly didn't recover much on the offensive side."

The third goal of the Tigers came off a deflection with Free scoring his second goal, this time with the ball spinning, for a 3-0 lead with 11:10 left in the half.

Free wasn't finished scoring as he gained a hat-trick in the season opener, giving the Tigers a 4-0 lead with 18:42 left on the clock.

"Tommy got the hat-trick, and Zack Harper played some magnificent defense, which is a new spot for him this season," Chamblin said. He wanted to play more defense this year."

The play of MHS keeper Cameron Spangler was key to the Tigers' victory with 11 saves in the match.

"Cameron had some outstanding plays," Chamblin said. "He's the leader of the defense back there and did exactly what we expected out of him."

For LC, starting keeper Devin Pierson finished with six saves. Backup keeper Morgan Ryan totaled five saves.

West spoke about one of his players.

"Wes Smith played outstanding soccer (Monday)," West said. "He's one of our defenders, and I don't know what everybody else was doing, but Wes was playing soccer. He played his heart out and played the entire match. He was the bright spot in our game (Monday).

"We just struggled to the ball. We played better in the second half. Greenfield has a good team. They have a great group of seniors, and that makes a difference.