Playoffs present all sorts of challenges, and West Liberty-Salem came through.
The Tigers got a dramatic 2-1 win in overtime at home on Tuesday night, edging Milton-Union to advance in the Division IV sectional tournament.
They will next host Indian Lake on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a sectional final.
West Liberty-Salem had gotten 11 of its 14 wins by shutout, and given up only one in the other three victories.
Milton-Union actually struck first on Tuesday. The Tigers tied it early in the second half, and the stalemate continued through the rest of regulation.
After a brief intermission, the teams played a 15-minute overtime. With just under five minutes left, senior Lance Campbell drove a shot high enough to be out of the keeper’s reach, but just under the crossbar for the win. Connor Leichty had the assist.
Milton-Union ends the year with a record of 9-8-1.
Tigers head coach Tim Wolfe said that the Tigers played an overtime game in the tournament last season, and wound up losing, “so we know what it’s like,” he said.
“From halftime on, we really, really asserted our play and our quality.”
He noted that “we created many chances. Milton-Union’s goalie played phenomenally. He kept them in the game. But we finally got the one that we needed, so we live to play another day.”
Bulldogs keeper Tyson Wright had 11 saves, while WL-S’ Tucker Searles made three at the other end.
The Tigers had a couple of shots by Leichty in the opening minutes, with one sailing high and the other getting saved.
With 31:11 to play, the Bulldogs built up pressure around the net, and knocked it past Searles on the left edge for the lead.
The Tigers had another shot with 25 minutes left, then created pressure at about the midpoint of the half.
Leichty got another chance with 16 minutes left, but Wright turned him away.
Shortly thereafter, the Tigers got a corner kick. That led to Leichty firing one, but it hit the crossbar and bounced away.
Each team had an additional corner kick, the Bulldogs with 12 minutes left, and the Tigers with about six to go, but it remained 1-0 at the break.
West Liberty-Salem turned up the heat to start the second, and was rewarded when Wyatt Longaberger set up Caleb Ling with just under four minutes elapsed.
“The farther the game goes, the other team plays more defensively, and you put more pressure on yourself,” said Coach Wolfe. “So that early goal relaxed us a little bit, and then we had several chances afterwards.”
A few minutes later, a Tigers shot was deflected by Wright over the top. WL-S had a couple of corner kicks, with another close call.
Around the midway point of the second half, Searles made a good save to keep it even at 1.
Play continued with neither able to dominate for any long period.
The teams were given five minutes intermission, then got on with overtime. Searles made a great save with eight minutes left. Longaberger had a shot got wide left just prior to Campbell’s winner from about 20 yards out.
Indian Lake went 6-2-2 in the Central Buckeye Conference and is 11-2-4 overall on the season.
The winner will advance to the district semifinal on Oct. 21 to face either #1 seed Archbishop Alter or Northwestern at a site to be determined.
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Ben Logan 1, Greenon 0 (OT)
Ben Logan had a drama-filled night as well, edging Greenon in overtime in a Division IV tournament game at home.
The Raiders, who won the CBC Mad River title at 7-2-1, are now 12-5-1 on the year. They will play at Waynesville on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The teams battled through the 80 minutes of regulation with neither able to break through.
Xavier Allen’s shot off a pass by Ben Solano crossed the line, but after review and discussion by the officials, was ruled to come after time expired.
With 1:54 remaining in overtime, Aidan Todd got a pass from Landen Simon. He worked his way around the Greenon keeper, but was knocked down.
Ben Logan was awarded a penalty kick, with Todd putting it in the net.
Coach Jamie Hughes of Ben Logan said, “I’m exhausted after that one and I didn’t even play the 93 minutes these guys did, but these kids play with heart and passion and they find ways to win.”
“I really thought we won it at the end when Ben found X and he put that shot in at the buzzer and after watching it on film, I have no idea how anyone can say that was clearly after the buzzer. However, we kept fighting and Landen made a great pass to set up Aidan who got fouled and no way he was missing that PK. I’m just really proud of our guys who just keep pushing through the injuries and soreness and we look forward to moving on and playing on Saturday.”
The winner of Saturday’s sectional final will advance to a district semifinal on Tuesday to face either #3 Bethel or #12 Miami East.
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Tipp City 8, Bellefontaine 0
