Dragons edge Mavericks in OT
Clinton eked out a 1-0 overtime over visiting Anderson County on Wednesday afternoon.
After the two teams battled to a scoreless tie, the game went into overtime.
The Dragons’ Russell Winchester took a blazing free kick but Anderson County’s keeper had trouble hanging on to the ball and Clinton’s Dylan Joy followed with a quick shot and scored the game winner.
“Clinton and Anderson County is always a great game to be a part of. This game was no different. Both teams battled into overtime — how fitting is that in such a huge rivalry game?” Asked Filip Leander, head coach of the Dragons.
“The goal in overtime was just such a gutty effort. Russell put a lot of power on his shot and Dylan Joy came crashing in and it paid off. Following our shots has been a point of emphasis for us recently and we finally got a huge one,” he said.
“Our defense did a great job against a very fast and aggressive attack. Matt Tolson, Jake Winter, Russell Winchester and Nick Sellers really played well and it was the difference in the game,” Leander said.
“Goalkeeping was tremendous. Nick Meadows has really stepped up and played so well for us. He is a great kid who has elevated his game to a new level,” the coach said.
“We would gladly play them again on a regulation field to see who has the most skill, but I don’t think Clinton is interested in that game,” said Ron Roskelly, head coach of the Mavericks.
The win gave Clinton a berth in the district tournament and they traveled to Halls on Friday for the opening round but their stay was short.
The Red Devils ousted the Dragons from the tournament with a 5-0 win.
In a steady rain, Halls dominated the first half, using their team speed to keep the ball in Dragons territory for the bulk of the first half.
The Red Devils led 2-0 at halftime.
All-District forward Dylan Williams was injured early in the game and could not play in the second half. Second-leading scorer Edwin Rivera got banged up and did not finish the game. Added to that was a red card that left the Dragons playing down a man and it was a tough night.
“Much credit to Halls. They are a good team. They had a lot of injuries early in the season and now they are healthy and have hit their stride. We are on the opposite side of things. We limped through the game and did not play our best. It was not our night,” Leander said.
“I am so proud of this team. We played a tougher schedule than in the years past and won more games (nine) than our program has won in a long time. We won a tournament for the first time in school history. These kids accomplished a lot,” he said.
“The program will really miss the seniors. They went from winning one game, to winning seven games, to winning nine games. It was a fantastic group to coach. Soccer means a lot to them,” said Leander.
“The underclassmen coming back will be really strong. There are too many to list by name. Dragon soccer has a bright future,” he said.