Leopards Exorcise Devils 2-1 to Advance to 1st Ever District Championship Game – Boys Soccer

By Leopard Nation · Published October 26, 2021 · Updated October 27, 2021

Louisville Leopards Boys Soccer 2021 District Finalists

#14 Louisville 2, #13 Tallmadge 1

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The #14 seed Louisville Leopards Boys Soccer Team pulled off their third straight tournament upset with a 2-1 victory over thehost #13 seed Tallmadge Blue Devils Tuesday Night in the DII Akron East 1 District Semifinals. With the victory, Louisville improves to 8-5-5 on the season and advances to their first ever district championship game. The Leopards will challenge the #1 seed and defending state champion Howland Tigers in the DII Akron East 1 District Finals at Roosevelt Stadium in Kent on Saturday, October 30 at 11:00 AM..

Foley Free Kick Ties the Game at 1-1

The Blue Devils broke the deadlock when freshman Brett Godell scored on a penalty kick with 6:21 remaining in the opening half.

Louisville answered back 68 seconds later when Mason Foley got the Leopards on the board via a free kick. Foley booted the ball from about 25 yards away shooting left to right. The perfectly placed shot went above the outstretched arms of the Tallmadge goalkeeper and into the top middle of the net to knot the game at 1-1 with 5:13 to go before halftime.

Foley now stands alone as Louisville’s leading scorer on the season with 7 goals.

Goal LEOPARDS! ⚽️
Tied 1-1
5:03 remaining in first half pic.twitter.com/agSlrEj6gj

— Terrie Horn (@LepsAD) October 26, 2021

Murray Scores Leopards Go-Ahead Goal

Neither team would score again until midway through the second half. Junior Tanis Murray would score the go-ahead goal around the 60th minute mark for the Leopards. The goal is Murray’s second of the season with his only other score coming in game 12 against Massillon.

Murray’s score would be all Louisville needed as they played solid defense the rest of the way in running out the clock. Leopard senior goalkeeper Joe Reynolds finished with five saves and has yet to concede a goal during regular action this postseason. Goodell’s penalty kick in the first half is the only score given up by Reynolds in the tournament as LHS is outscoring the opposition 5-1 in three games.

Louisville’s 1st Win Over Tallmadge Since 2007

This is Louisville’s first victory over Tallmadge since shutting them out on the road 4-0 in 2007. The Leopards and Blue Devils tied each of the past two seasons. Tallmadge also defeated Louisville 2-1 in the 2017 DII Medina Sectional Finals. Louisville flipped this script this time around.

The Leopards are now 3-1-3 all-time against the Blue Devils. Louisville is also an undefeated 2-0-2 in the four games they have played at Tallmadge dating back to 2005. The series is now even between the two schools in tournament competition with the road team winning each time.

The Blue Devils finish the 2021 campaign with a final record of 7-7-3 following the loss.

<<< 2021 At Louisville | Tallmadge All-Time Series

Leopards Make History

With the victory, the Leopards are now 19-21 in the postseason all-time. This includes a 7-14 record when playing tournament games outside of Louisville.

The Leopards not only drove out the Devils Tuesday Night, but also exorcised many of their past tournament demons as well. This is the first time the LHS Boys Soccer Team has ever won three games in a single postseason. This is also marks Louisville’s first ever win in district tournament play after previously going 0-6 in district semifinal appearances.

<<< Previous At Lake Catholic | Boys Soccer Tournament History

Louisville To Challenge Defending State Champs

Consequently this is also the first time the Leopards have ever reached the district finals in soccer. They will have a chance to bring home the hardware on Saturday against the top seeded Howland Tigers, who were DII state runner-ups in 2019 and DII state champions in 2020. Howland improved to 15-3 on the season with a 4-1 home victory over the #18 seed Streetsboro Rockets Tuesday. Saturday’s District Championship game will be just the second time Louisville has played a game on a neutral field in their history.

UP NEXT: The Louisville Leopards Boys Soccer Team will next take on the #1 seed Howland Tigers in the DII Akron East 2 District Championship on Saturday, October 30. Game time is slated for 11:00 AM from Roosevelt Stadium in Kent.

Cover Photo By Athletic Director Terrie Horn

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