Soccer Patriots make early exit with 5-2 loss to Boyle Co.
Published 9:24 am Thursday, October 10, 2019
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DANVILLE — The Lincoln County boys soccer team fell to Boyle County Tuesday night in the opening round of the 45th District Soccer Tournament, putting an end to one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history.
Lincoln has had three seasons with more wins – 2010 (15), 2011 (13) and 2018 (13) – but no season got off to the start that 2019 did as the soccer Patriots played the first month with no losses.
But that strong start would not translate into a deep run in the postseason. Lincoln defeated Boyle 1-0 in the regular season but the Rebels got the win when it mattered most, defeating the soccer Patriots 5-2 Tuesday on Danville High’s Reynolds Field to knock them out of the tourney.
Lincoln (12-3-4) struggled offensively in the district rematch, with Boyle (11-9-1) putting up three goals before the soccer Pats got on the scoreboard.
Senior Trey Cummins scored both of Lincoln’s goals in the game, knocking the goose egg off the soccer Patriots’ side of the scoreboard midway through the second period. After a Rebel handball, Boyle goalkeeper Ethan James was working to position his defense in front of him when Cummins lasered in the free kick to get Lincoln within 3-1 with 23:59 to play.
Lincoln would get no closer than two goals. Less than three minutes after the Cummins goal, Rebel senior Sean Bell worked the ball out of a crowd to score from the left side of goal to push Boyle’s lead to 4-1. Cummins got back into goal at the 16:53 mark, heading in a shot off a corner kick to make it 4-2.
Eli Goggin scored the final goal of the game with just 5:28 remaining to give Boyle the 5-2 win.
The closing goal was the second of the night for the Boyle senior. Goggin, Caden Ferrell and Gabe Hodge gave Boyle all the goals it needed for the win, with Ferrell, a junior, scoring on a penalty kick to open the game scoring in the first half. The Rebels earned the PK after a trip in the box penalty against Lincoln. Boyle controlled possession for most of the first half, but the PK, which came with 22:33 on the clock, was the lone goal of the period.
The Rebels wasted little time in the second half building on their lead. Goggin powered in a high kick on Lincoln goalkeeper Carter Tillett a little over two minutes into the period and Hodge, a junior, tallied just three minutes later with a shot into the back right corner of the net for the 3-0 advantage.
For the game, Boyle outshot Lincoln 22-13.
Tillett had 11 saves in goal for Lincoln. James had six saves for Boyle.
Boyle earned an automatic berth in next week’s regional tournament with the win. The Rebels will face the Danville Admirals in the district championship game tonight at 7 p.m. The Ads advanced with a 10-0 shutout of Garrard County.