The Switzerland County Middle School soccer team closed out the regular season with its third win in a row by defeating the Madison Bears 4-3 at Pacer field last Wednesday.
The Pacers struck quickly, scoring on a goal by Anthony Dasis in the first minute of the game. Then, at the six minute mark, Anthony Dasis scored his second goal of the night with an assist by Walter Barnes.
The Pacers then took a 3-0 lead shortly after that on a goal by Walter Barnes. The Bears answered back with a goal to make it a halftime score of 3-1.
Anthony Dasis opened the second half scoring on a nice cross by Walter Barnes to make the score 4-1.
Midway through the second half the Bears posted a huge comeback, putting two goals in the back of the net to cut the Pacer lead to one. The Pacer defense managed to hold off the surging Bears at the end of the game to preserve the 4-3 victory.
The Pacer offense was led by Anthony Dasis with three goals and Walter Barnes with one goal. Walter Barnes had three assists on the night. Jordan Bledsoe, Josh Yeary, Chris Morris and Bre Ricketts all had shots on goal for the Pacers.
The Pacers had a season high 21 shots on goal.
Goalkeeper Tim Steinbis had seven saves in the game, including a crucial save in the final two minutes that sealed the victory.
The Pacers ended the regular season by winning five of their last six games. The Pacers record for the regular season was 5-3-2.
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The team took home the runner up trophy at the Madison Shawe Soccer Invitational over the weekend.
The Pacers won their fourth game in a row in the tournament’s opening round with a 4-1 win over the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles.
The Eagles scored first on a corner kick at the 26 minute mark of the first period; but the Pacers immediately answered on a goal by Anthony Dasis.
Jordan Bledsoe made it a 2-1 lead for the Pacers when he scored at the halfway point in the first period. Anthony Dasis would find the back of the net two more times in the first period to give the Pacers a 4-1 halftime lead.
The Pacers played solid defense in the second period to preserve the 4-1 final score.
The Pacer offense was led by Anthony Dasis with three goals and Jordan Bledsoe with one goal. Walter Barnes, Anthony Dasis, and Josh Yeary all had assists in the game. Pacer defenders Logan Todd, Logan Pike, Lensi Parham, Mickey Turner, Lauren Haskell, and Steven Craig had another solid defensive game. Coach Kyle Weaver said that all 20 players saw playing time in the game.
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In the tourney’s championship game the Pacers took on the undefeated and conference leading Rising Sun Shiners.
The Shiners were the first team to score, connecting at the 19 minute mark of the first half. The rest of the first half saw both teams playing outstanding defense; and the halftime score remained 1-0 Shiners.
In the second half the Pacers continued to fire shots at the Shiner defense. Anthony Dasis was finally able to score a goal midway through the half to tie the game at 1-1.
“The final 10 minutes of the game were some of the most exciting soccer of the year,” Coach Kyle Weaver said. “Both teams were pounding each others defense with shot after shot.”
Both defenses held strong to preserve a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, and the game went into a shootout to determine the winner.
In the shootout Jordan Bledsoe scored, but in the end it wasn’t enough as the Shiners won the shootout 2-1 for a final score for the game of 3-2. The Pacers became only the second team all season to score on the outstanding Shiner defense.
The Pacers ended their season with the first winning record in four years. The final record for the Pacers was 6-4-2.