Boys Soccer Rallies to Tie West Branch 2-2

VIDEO:

Louisville 2, West Branch 2

With the score 1-0 West Branch, the Warriors extended their advantage to 2-nil when Cody Criss scored on a breakaway goal with just 0:46 left until halftime.  Normally this would have been a backbreaker for the 2-11 Leopards, but not tonight.  Not under the lights of Louisville Leopards Stadium, nor in front of the fans in attendance and rowdy student section urging them on.  On Tuesday evening the Louisville sparked a rally through two Harrison Raub goals to force a 2-2 tie with the West Branch Warriors.

Just 99 seconds into the second half Riley Groves dribbled the ball out of the far left side of the penalty box and passed the ball to Raub who was on the edge of the white football out of bounds line parallel with the 4-yard-line.  Raub blasted the ball high over the head of defenders and into the top right corner of the net to cut West Branch’s lead in half.

Soon after, goalie Austin Hallas made a superb sliding kick to save a goal from sneaking into the right side of the Louisville net.


Not long after that, Paul Fox barely got a pass through two West Branch defenders at midfield.  The ball slid near the far right side of the field just outside the penalty box.  Michael Lautner retrieved it and drifted a pass along the carpet to the center of the penalty box.  Raub crushed it into the right side of the net from 17 yards away tying the game up at 2-2 with 29:13 left to play in the game.

The Leopards and Warriors had several chances in the final half hour of the game, but no one could find the net.  West Branch had a goal taken away due to offsides earlier in the half and Louisville had several opportunities on offense to break the deadlock as well.

The best chance for a score occurred with just under 5 minutes remaining.  When a 40 yard rocket pass deflected off another player and bounced around and into the goal box.  Kyle Baker found the other end of it with no time to react.  He kicked it towards the net, but a barrier named Zach Minich, West Branch’s goal keeper, deflected it away.

Louisville is now 2-7-3 all-time against the Warriors as the Leps move to 2-11-1 on the season.  Both West Branch and Louisville are tied for sixth in the conference with an NBC record of 1-4-1.


NEXT UP: The Leopards will next travel to play the Canton McKinley Bulldogs on Thursday, October 6 at 5:00 PM.

PICTURES:

Featured image from Louisville Leopards Soccer Facebook Page and taken by Jim & Laura Campbell.  Click Here to see more pictures from this game…

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