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FALCON SOCCER
Falcons lose heartbreaker after 110 minutes of play—game extended on late judgment call.
Falcons see victory snatched away with 17 seconds left in regulation as late
hand ball in the box call gives the Cajuns a free kick to tie it and send the contest
to overtime. Junior Camp Sledge scored to put the Falcons up 1-0 with 13 minutes left in regulation. Junior Kameron Eckland collects 11 saves!
COVINGTON—The Saint Thomas Falcons lost a heart-breaker Sunday in the Divison III
Semi-finals as the Falcons fell victim to a late judgement hand ball in the box call with
just 17 seconds left in regulation. The PK led to a Country Day goal that tied the score
and sent the contest into overtime. The two teams played two scoreless ten minute and five
overtime periods and then settle the outcome with PKs with Country Day winning 4-2.
“We had about 20 seconds left on the clock and we’re advancing
into the next round and unfortunately we conceded a penalty We were dominating the game
and the penalty gave them a lift,” said Falcon head coach John Cox. “We had to dig deep. We switched to a 4-5-4-1
formation to try defensively secure things because they started to get the edge a bit.
We did that and try to focus on position, playing in to Camp Sledge
and getting Jordan working off him. We did pretty well during the two
10-minute periods and two sudden death overtimes. When it comes
down to penalty kicks, sometimes the good Lord is behind you and
I guess today it was on their side.”
The two teams played shutout soccer in the first half. The Falcons took the advantage late in
the second half as junior Camp Sledge got loose in front of the box delivering a head shot for a goal with 13:40 left.
“His positional sense was great. He had a good position between the goal keeper
and the defender and he managed to rise above the two of them and put it in the net with just a fantastic goal,”
said Cox.
“The game does come down to missed opportunities. We had opportunities to finish early
on the first half. We had a lot of opportunities and they went a little wayward. But again that’s soccer.
There’s nothing you can do. It’s a question of just digging deep and refocusing,” added Cox.
The Falcons kept the Cajuns scoreless up with 17 second left when a hand ball in the box call led to a penalty kick
that was good by Country Day’s Gary Lawrence that tied the contest sending it into overtime.
The two teams battled to a series of scoreless overtimes before Country Day
secure the win with a 4-2 advantage in PKs.
Junior Kameron Eckland was stellar in the box collecting 11 saves.
“I just look back on the season and the guys just gave me everything,” continued Cox.
“I’m really proud of them for their achievements. As individuals I think they really represented
the school fantastically well. They kept their discipline throughout and worked hard.
Unfortunately in sport, you win some and you lose some.”
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