Trojans pull away to top soccer squad
The Pioneers kicked off the game and made a courageous drive to make the first strike early, but Franklin County’s defenses were strong. Each team executed well, in fact, only to be denied by their opponents’ defenses.
As the first half was winding down, with under four minutes remaining, Warren County took control in the middle of the field. Johnny Smith worked around his defender to complete a pass to Cole Carlson on the right wing. Carlson dribbled past the Franklin county defense to face their keeper, Nick Wiggins, one-on-one. As Wiggins came out to press, Carlson dribbled past taking one step to his left and found the back of the net with 3:53 remaining, putting the Pioneers on the board first.
The Franklin County players, however, were not discouraged. They came back with a scoring drive of their own. They drove down the left side finding Devan Clark who struck hard past the Pioneer keeper Patrick David, leaving 2:00 left in the half. The first half ended with the Pioneers and Trojans knotted at 1-1.
The second half opened with Franklin County kicking off and more determined to take the lead. They drove down the pitch and struck at the goal to no avail, as David was there to intercept the ball before the goal. At the 12th minute into the half, Smith received a pass from Carlson off the right side to the middle of the field at around the 15-yard line, just inside the penalty box. As Smith turned on the goal, a Franklin County defender swept him off his feet resulting in a penalty kick from.
Smith took the shot on Franklin County’s Wiggins, finding the upper left corner of the net just out of reach of the keeper and putting the Pioneers up 2-1.
Franklin County did not give in. In the 17th minute of the second half, Rex Sweeton took a high bounce in the middle of the field and shot it past the David to find the net, tying the game at 2-all. Franklin County was not through, however, and three minutes later Rex Sweeton, with a long cross from the Pioneer keeper’s left side, found Trevor Dykes on the back post who shot past David for the winning goal. Once more, Franklin County struck with 3:35 remaining in the game. This time Jesse Hayes made a cross to Ethan Scott who shot past David with what would prove to be the game’s final goal.
The loss dropped the Pioneers to 1-5, with their lone win so far coming over Franklin County North on March 14.
The Pioneer junior varsity team won over Franklin County South Trojans JV with a score of 1-0.