Soccer season draws to close

A soccer season that was filled with learning experiences and a variety of defensive combinations came to an end Monday night for the Lyon County Lyons. The good news is that the Lyons squad is set to lose only one of its key players to graduation – defender Brandon Fraliex – after the loss to the Wildcats of Trigg County in the Fourth District Tournament matchup. Despite having home field advantage, the Lyon squad was unable to hold onto an early lead to eventually drop the contest 4-1. With the victory, Trigg County will face Caldwell County, who defeated Dawson Springs 7-1 on Tuesday, at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday night.
The scoring started early on in the game with goals from Lyon Hunter Thomas and a Trigg County goal that eased past the goal. Thomas’ goal struck first as he was able to get the ball past Trigg goalkeeper Kevin Latham’s best efforts. This put Lyon up 1-0 early, a lead that lasted for a large majority of the first half of play. By scoring first, Lyon obviously had the Wildcats shaken up and motivated to tie the game before the half was over. That hope came true just before the halftime whistle blew; Trigg County’s relentless offensive onslaught attack and crisp, clear passing was able to break down the strong Lyon defense to tie the contest. Prior to Trigg County’s tally, Lyon defensive players Houston Cruce, Charles Smith, Collin Timmons, Brandon Fraliex, and the returning Nick McKinney fended off all of the Wildcat’s breakaway attempts. Cruce, the Lyon County goalkeeper, made several remarkable saves in the goal prior to and after Trigg had scored their first goal that proved invaluable to the Lyon efforts. At halftime, the Lyons and Wildcats were deadlocked at a goal apiece.
It did not take long for Trigg County to get revitalized and score a go ahead goal to begin the second half of play. At the 38:09 point of the second half, Wildcat Jeremy Butts earned a goal when he was able to use his foot skills to drill the ball into the lower corner of far right side of the net, just past Cruce. This put the Wildcats up by only one goal, an obstacle that Lyon could overcome with a single shot on goal attempt. However, Trigg County’s Joel Ben Thomas made it more difficult for the Lyons to overcome the deficit because with 30:52 remaining in the game, he scored Trigg’s third goal of the night. The third Trigg goal soared into the net on a shot from outside the goal box and over the heads of several Lyon defenders. The Wildcat offense was not yet done scoring after their third goal as Thomas received the ball again and was able to place it just behind the reach of Cruce from the left side of the field. Trigg’s last goal came with 24:02 left in the second half, enough time for more goals for both teams. However, both team’s defenses tightened up after Trigg’s forth goal and Thomas’ second to prevent any further scoring from occurring. Several shot attempts from Lyons Landon Norman, Thomas, and Landon Aycock were saved by Latham near the end of the game to remove any chance of further scoring for Lyon. On the other side of the field, the Lyon defense again came alive as they cleared the ball from any danger of going into the goal and up to the offense.
Lyon was only outscored by three goals in the contest, an improvement from the previous 10-0 and 6-1 losses they had suffered to the Wildcats earlier in the season. However, the decrease in margin did not make a difference in who would play again on Thursday against the Caldwell County Tigers, who have lost both of their prior matchups to the Wildcats in the regular season.
The Lady Lyons will take on the Lady Wildcats of Trigg County in the first round of the fourth district girls’ soccer tournament in Crittenden County. It is scheduled to begin on Tuesday (prior to press time) at 7:30 p.m.. Lyon dropped both regular season contests to Trigg 3-1 and 5-2. The winner of this contest will face the winner of the Caldwell/Crittenden County game in the championship at Crittenden County on Thursday at 7:30 p.m..