Trinity splits games in annual tourney

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The Cougar Cup championship title won’t stay in Seymour this year.

Trinity Lutheran split games in their annual tournament, losing to Silver Creek 1-0 and beating Shoals 4-2 on Saturday.

In game one, the Owls and Dragons battled back-and-forth, scoreless, for the first 65 minutes of the game.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, the Dragons converted a score in the middle of the box off a cross to take the lead.

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“It was another game where we played 65 minutes of great soccer and had a two minute lapse where the other team capitalized,” Cougars coach Brandan Tabeling said. “In soccer, that’s all it takes and it can cost you a game.”

The Dragons out-shot the Cougars 16-13 in the game.

Senior Luke Onken collected 10 saves in goal for the Cougars.

In game two, the Cougars went on the attack early.

“With it being just a three-team tournament format, losing the first game made it difficult for the tournament,” Tabeling said. “We told the guys to not worry about it being a tournament and just look at it as a regular win. We wanted to go out, rebound and show we can win.”

Cougars freshman AJ Goecker notched the first goal for the Cougars off an assist from senior Chris Rust with 30 minutes on the clock.

Off a corner kick, at 24:21, the Cougars’ Noah Criswell headed a ball into the back of the net off a corner kick by Rust.

Not letting up, Rust notched a score thanks to an assist by senior Bobby Tabeling at the 21:35 mark.

Following intermission, the Jug Rox found an answer as DJ Hart slid a shot from the right side of the field to the far post for a goal at 32:25.

The Jug Rox scored again, at 28 minutes, when Ben Clymer converted on a breakaway run.

Cougars senior Cole Galyen blasted a shot in a crowd of bodies piled in the box at 26:41 to put his team up 4-2.

Coach Tabeling was proud of Criswell and Galyen, who play on the defense.

“Noah Criswell, a sophomore, works his behind off on the defensive end,” coach Tabeling said. “Defensive players don’t get a ton of recognition compared to goal scorers. He won a nice header to put it in the back. Chris is the same way, he hits and takes hits. It’s nice to see guys who are working hard getting the payoff with scores.”

The Cougars finished with 15 shots and Andrew Emily had 12 saves as the keeper.

“The guys are doing a great job on starting to focus on what we’ve been telling them all year,” Tabeling said. “Against the good teams, you have to play well more than 90 percent of the game. Now, it’s no longer practicing and playing. We need to play to win.”

Tuesday, the Cougars (5-7-2) will host Southwestern (Shelbyville).

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