Poland, Lakeview boys soccer fit to be tied

It was the second draw of the season between the Bulldogs

By Greg Gulas

sports @vindy.com

CORTLAND

Joe Shields’ goal with 12:13 remaining helped lift the Poland High boys soccer team to a 2-2 tie with Lakeview in All-American Conference White Division action Thursday at Don Richard Memorial Field.

It was the second time this season that the two teams fought to a deadlock, having already battled to a 1-1 stalemate back on Sept. 8.

It also marked the third time in two seasons that neither team walked off the field victorious.

“I felt like we settled down at the end of the first half with halftime the worst thing that happened to us tonight,” Lakeview head coach Bryan Phillips said. “The last couple of years have all been nail-biters between these two teams and tonight was no different. Jackson Gagne did an excellent job in goal for us while our last three games have had a tournament atmosphere to them. That’s huge heading into the tournament.

“There are eight good teams and I expect both us and Poland to be high seeds at tournament time.”

Poland (5-1-5, 1-0-4) got on the board first when Matt Holsinger assisted Trey Medvec at the 25:22 mark of the opening half for a 1-0 advantage.

“The ball ended up right in front of me, I caught it with the side of my left foot and just slipped it through the right side of the net,” Medvec stated.

Holsinger noted that both teams kept competing right up to the final horn.

“Lakeview is an excellent team and both teams battled hard right to the end,” he said. “We made some good plays and we’ll learn from this. We just need to be able to finish.”

Josh Kelly scored at the 21:23 mark for Lakeview (7-3-2, 3-1-2), tying the game at halftime 1-1.

Blake Gill gave Lakeview the 2-1 lead when Noah Busefink assisted on his ninth goal of the year at 29:26 of the second half.

“Noah was dribbling down the sideline and got past a defender and the six-yard box. The ball hit their goalie’s hand, slid to my chest and I was able to kick it into the left side of the goal,” Gill said. “We just need to play a little harder next time. I hope we get to see them [Poland] again in the tournament.”

Shield’s goal with 12:13 left then pulled Poland even and rounded out the scoring on the evening.

“We had a couple of good chances at the outset, which would have given us some momentum. We just weren’t able to take advantage of those opportunities,” Poland head coach Brian Garcar said. “You saw two excellent goaltenders tonight in Jackson Gagne for Lakeview and Bryan Montgomery for us. Both seniors, Bryan kept us in the game with his excellent play tonight. We had a couple of defensive breakdowns which led to their two goals, but just kept fighting right to the end.”

Poland had eight shots on goal — four in each half — while Lakeview registered nine shots, five coming after intermission.

Poland is now 3-0-2 in its last five outings while Lakeview is 4-0-1 in the last five games.