STRATTANVILLE, Pa. (EYT/D9) — The Clarion-Limestone boys soccer team made a bit of history on Saturday morning by rallying for a 3-1 victory over Karns City for the Lions first ever victory over the Gremlins.
“It feels great to win this game today,” said C-L head coach Don Montgomery. “That program, along with Brockway, are two teams you want to mold your team after. It’s great for these players and for our assistant coaches who are all former players who had never beaten Karns City.”
The first half turned into a very defensive 40 minutes as neither team could notch a goal. C-L managed three shots on goal while the Gremlins put just one shot on Lions’ keeper Tyler Bingham.
The Gremlins broke the scoreless tie at 37:08 of the second half when Noah Mourer put a shot past Bingham.
Bailee Verdill tied the score at 1-1 at the 31:44 mark when he blasted a shot high over goalkeeper Lucas Yasika.
Verdill scored again at the 20:29 mark to give C-L (12-2) the lead for good. Thomas Uckert added the third goal for the Lions with just 29 seconds remaining in the contest to set the final score.
Bingham stopped five of six second half shots from Karns City.
“We had some guys missing from our back line, so Tyler had to be more disciplined in net today,” said Montgomery.
Yasika kept Karns City in the game by making several saves in the second half. He finished with eight saves on 11 shots after halftime.
“He is a tough goalie as we remember him from last season,” said Montgomery. “We knew it was going to be tough, but we were able to get a couple shots behind him.”
C-L will travel to Redbank Valley on Monday to face a Bulldogs team which defeated the Lions 8-3 on Sept. 7th at C-L.
“We have another tough game on Monday,” said Montgomery. “We know what’s at stake as if we’re able to win that one we would have a share of the league title which would be another first for our program. Our kids know what’s at stake and they know what happened here last time so I’m sure they’ll be ready.”
CROSS COUNTRY
Kaine McFarland and Gabriel Fair helped the North Clarion boys cross country team to a fourth-place finish at the 21-team Rocky Grove Invitational on Saturday.
McFarland finished 23rd overall with a time of 18:56 and Fair was 24th, crossing the finish line in 18:59.
Aiden Thomas (29th), Dane Sliker (46th), Jackson Nicewonder (49th) and Jack Pappas (132) also competed for the Wolves.
Katie Bauer was 27th for the North Clarion girls. She finished with a time of 23:02.
