Medomak Valley boys’ soccer team came to play Monday night in Lincoln Academy’s Homecoming game under the lights in Newcastle. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was rained out.
The Panthers scored two and a half minutes into the game, then hung tough on defense to beat the Eagles 1-0. The upset win was the third victory for the Panthers (3-6) this season and avenged a Medomak Homecoming loss to Lincoln (6-4-1) a week earlier.
Marc Sweet scored on a through pass from Micah Williamson 2:35 into the Homecoming match-up to give the Panthers the only score they would need to win 1-0.
Lincoln had a goal called back with 15:18 to go on a header from Tom Masters. Officials ruled Masters jumped into Brandon Soper and gave the Panthers a free kick going out.
The Eagles missed high and wide on several early opportunities. With seven minutes to play they came up empty on a wild scramble in front of the Panthers’ net thanks to tough defense from Medomak.
Lincoln stayed on their offensive end in the second half, but were only able to get four shots off, and two were on corner kicks. Leading the Panthers’ defensive stand were Jon Hendrickson-Belloguet, Brandon Soper, Boone Olson, Micah Williamson and Clarence Porter.
The Eagles looked to tie the game with 24:06 to go in the second half, but Kyle O’Brien’s goal was called back for offsides. Masters was yellow carded for verbally protesting the call and did not return. Eagle defender Jon Riley missed the game with a calf injury.
Lincoln held an 8-6 advantage in shots. Ryan Ripley earned the shutout win with four saves. Wally Morris made five stops in net for the Eagles.
“We played well. We put everything together. We did everything we wanted to do. We got to the ball first. We got one by them early then packed it in on defense,” coach Brian Campbell said of the Panthers’ best game of the season. “From the beginning to the end, we played solid all game long.”