Sat Feb 11 2012
Frankfort High’s boys soccer team had the shots Monday night. The Panthers just didn’t have the goals.
FHS, playing Berea in the first round of the regional All “A” Classic at Sower Soccer Field, lost 3-2 in a match decided by penalty kicks.
Berea will play Owen County tonight at 6 in the semifinals.
Monday’s match looked as if it might be a high-scoring affair as a total of four goals – two by each team – were scored in the first 15½ minutes.
The score was still 2-2 at the end of regulation, and the match went immediately to penalty kicks.
The two teams were tied on PKs through their first three shots, but Frankfort missed its last two penalty kicks. The Pirates’ Isaac McFarland made his team’s fourth shot, which gave Berea the win.
FHS was playing its fourth match in seven days, but coach Sherrill Smith didn’t use that as an excuse.
“What I would have loved to have had was another day to practice,” he said, “but I thought we had everything going our way.We just didn’t finish.
“We had opportunities on goal, but we didn’t finish. They had some nice keeper play that took some things away.”
Berea (2-2-2) scored first when Major McGraw fired a shot from the right side across the front of the goal and into the lower left corner of the net.
That goal came with 30:16 left in the first half.
Less than three minutes later FHS’ Taylor Lile tied the game with a goal much like McGraw’s, burying the shot in the lower left corner with 27:27 remaining.
McGraw picked up his second goal with 24:52 left in the half, but Berea’s lead was short-lived as FHS’ Nick Ballantyne scored to tie the match just 11 seconds later.
That was the last goal of the match, although the Panthers kept the ball on offense for much of the second half and seemed to catch a break when a Berea player received a red card for language, leaving the Pirates to play a man down for the final 14:56 of regulation.
“We dribbled up to the point of attack,” Smith said, “and then we didn’t do the things we needed to – chip the ball over, take shots quicker. We were constantly trying to drive through the wall.
“Once they got the red card and played a man down, instead of taking advantage I felt like we lowered our intensity,” he added. “It was like we’ve got this. We came up with some great opportunities, but we didn’t score.”
Zach Perry was in goal for FHS, and Ben Miller was Berea’s goalkeeper. The Panthers (2-4) outshot Berea 28-20.
Frankfort’s next match will be Sept. 8 at Sower Soccer Field against Paris.
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