In a gutsy, gritty, thrilling performance against a superior opponent in the 11th District Championship game Wednesday at Cougar Field, the Cougar soccer team battled right to the bitter end before falling 1-0 to the Meade County Green Wave on a goal with less than two minutes to play in the game.
The Cougars gave everything they had and left nothing on the field as they battled to keep the powerful Green Wave team scoreless for nearly the entire game.
But with just 1:20 left to play, Chase Long’s corner kick found a leaping Justin Mosier at the back corner of the Cougar goal, and Mosier headed it in past Cougar goalie Colton Cockriel to give Meade the win and the District Title.
This was an end-to-end game from start to finish, with the quick, powerful Green Wave controlling the action for much of the time
Meade kept the pressure on in the first 10 minutes, twice sending shots over the top of the Cougar goal.
Grayson County had a couple of great chances in the 10th minute. With the ball bouncing around just in front of the Meade goal, two Cougar shots were turned aside.
The Green Wave were awarded a free kick in the 26th minute of play just outside the penalty area, but a soft shot over the Cougar wall in front of the goal settled harmlessly into the hands of Cockriel and Meade was turned aside.
Meade just missed connecting in the 29th minute, when a rush up the middle produced a shot that went wide left by just inches.
The Cougars had a good chance in the 38th minute when junior Trey Sanders took a ball down the left side, beat a Meade defender and took it to the center. But his shot trailed off wide left and the Cougars were thwarted.
Neither team was able to get much done the rest of the way and the half ended in a 0-0 tie.
The Cougars had a couple of good chances in the opening minutes of the second half. In the 44th minute, senior Michael Thomas was awarded a free kick about 45-yards out from the Meade goal. His line drive shot sailed just to the right and the Cougars were turned away.
In the 51st minute, Sanders had a free kick from about 40 yards out, but his shot also went just wide.
The Green Wave had a golden opportunity in the 60th minute when they took the ball in all alone on Cockriel. The shot beat Cockriel on his right side, but the ball rolled just to the left of the upright and out of bounds.
In the 61st minute, Cockriel made a terrific save on a ball that was headed at the goal from point-blank range.
The Waves had a free kick from the left corner in the 71st minute, but the shot from about 25 yards was blasted far over the net.
That set up the winning goal in the 78th minute. Long sent a beautiful, arcing corner kick to the back post and Mosier, who is well over six-feet tall, sailed high and connected with the ball perfectly with his head and sent it into the left corner of the net.
The Cougars began scrambling, trying to get the equalizer, but with less than a minute and a half left, could not muster a shot on goal.
Following the game, Thomas, Damon Jones and Jordan Bounds were named to the 11th District All-Tournament Team. Also named to the team were Mosier, Long, Grant Raley and Dylan Andrews, from Meade County, and Josh Davis and Kenneth Johnson, from Butler County.
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