Isaac Clemons fought to control a ball during Thursday’s match against University Heights. The Blazers scored two late goals to defeat the Cougars 3-1on Senior Night.
The Blazers had taken a 1-0 lead with a goal midway through the first half before the Cougars tied things in the opening moments of the second.
Both teams had opportunities following the tying goal but neither could score until the Blazers scored in the 65th minute of play to take the lead back. They added another goal shortly afterward and held on to take the win.
The Cougars held the upper hand in the early going, keeping the pressure on the Blazer defense. The best opportunity for the Cougars came in the 24th minute as senior Dustin Hayes sent a ball through the middle of the Blazer defense and Trey Sanders got to it behind the Blazer defenders. Sanders went one-on-one with Blazer goalkeeper Darian McCombs, but his shot went high over the cross bar to end the threat.
The Blazers responded quickly to take a lead. Several players were trying to control a high, bouncing ball in front of the Cougar goal. The ball came down with a lot of spin and kicked left to Blazer midfielder Austin Byrum, who put a one-timer across the goal mouth. The ball caromed off the right upright, went back across the goal, off the left upright and into the net to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.
The Blazers controlled the action the rest of the way and took their one-goal lead into the halftime intermission.
The Cougars came out pressing the action in the opening minutes of the second half, gaining a couple of corner kicks. In the 44th minutes, Michael Thomas put a crossing shot onto the foot of Wes Trail, who put a hard shot on goal which went behind the Blazer goalie and into the net to tie things at 1-1.
The Cougars’ Joey Nelson had a couple of excellent scoring opportunities turned away. In the 59th minute, Nelson’s shot from about 10 yards out was stopped by McCombs. A minute later, Nelson put a hard shot on goal only to see it carom off the cross bar and bounce away.
Those were the last good opportunities the Cougars had until the final minutes and the Blazers soon took control with another goal. In the 65th minute, Bryant Hamby crossed a ball from the left corner into a knot of players about 10 yards out in front of the Cougar goal. Blazer striker Clayton Joyce found the ball in the melee and powered a shot past Cougar goalie Colton Cockriel to grab the lead.
A minute later, a Cougar defender missed gaining control of a bouncing ball at the back of the defense. Hamby took the ball in the middle of the field and passed it to Matt Mamoth, who took it in and beat Cockriel for an insurance goal,.
The Cougars just missed making it a one-point difference in the 75th minute. Trail dribbled the ball about 30 yards out and put a hard shot toward the right upright. McCombs dove at the last second and was able to stop the missile before it crossed the goal line. That was the Cougars’ last gasp and the Blazers went home with the win.
Grayson County (5-11-1) begins play in the 8th District Tournament Monday evening a 6 p.m. at Greenwood High School where they will face the Glasgow Scotties (6-12-1) in the opening round. The Scotties defeated the Cougars in Glasgow 4-3 in their only meeting this year back in September. The winner of this opener will play top-seeded Greenwood at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
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