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Miami Trace senior Pierce McCarty possesses the ball during the first hald of the game against McClain on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023.
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald
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Lady Panther freshman Elyse Day takes a shot on goal in the first half of the match against McClain on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023.
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald
Miami Trace High School was home to a Frontier Athletic Conference double-header in soccer on Thursday, Aug. 31 as the Panthers hosted the McClain Tigers for boys and girls soccer.
The first game featured the Miami Trace boys (2-3, 0-1) and the McClain boys (1-2-1, 0-1)
The match was very physical from start to finish with multiple yellow cards issued to both teams over the course of the game.
McClain drew first blood with 21:28 in the first half when the Panther goalkeeper collided with a teammate while going after a loose ball, leaving an open goal that the Tigers took advantage of.
McClain extended the lead with 3:56 left in the half when a Panther player was defending a corner kick and headed the ball into the Panther goal accidentally. McClain would take the 2-0 lead into the half. The Panthers had several shots on goal in the first half that were just off target.
The Tigers made it 3-0 with 36:41 remaining in the game on a header off of a corner kick.
The Panthers responded quickly to get on the board with 33:24 remaining when Sekou Mara split two defenders and drilled one into the back left corner of the net.
McClain answered minutes later with a goal of their own into the back left corner to make it 4-1.
With 19:17 left in the contest, Mara scored on a goal kick to make it 4-2 in favor of McClain.
Mara would record his third goal of the game with 7:03 remaining on a sliding kick with an assist coming from Ian Rayburn.
The Panthers found themselves scrambling for another goal late and with 50 seconds left in the contest they found one when Mara got past the McClain goalkeeper after a long pass from Landon Burns and chipped it into the back of the net to tie the game at 4-4.
Neither team was able to complete a game-winner over the last few moments of the contest as the game ended in a tie.
The next game saw the Miami Trace girls (2-2, 0-1) and the McClain girls (1-1, 0-1)
This game was just as physical as the boys game with both teams desperately wanting the victory.
McClain scored just minutes into the game on a deflection off of a corner kick.
Miami Trace would answer with 31:35 left after McClain deflected the ball into their own goal while trying to get the ball away from the net.
Just over a minute later, Miami Trace would add another goal from Nora Morrison off of an assist from Hannah Houck to make it 2-1.
With 13:58 left in the half, the Lady Tigers would score to make it 2-2 which ended up being the halftime score.
The Lady Panthers regained the lead with 37:33 left in the contest on a goal from Elyse Day.
Miami Trace held tough defensively over the next 30 minutes, not allowing the Lady Tigers to tie the contest. That changed with 7:22 in the game as an infraction on the Lady Panthers allowed McClain a penalty kick which they converted to tie the game 3-3.
Both teams threatened to score over the remaining moments in the contest but neither could capitalize as the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
The Miami Trace boys (2-3-1, 0-1-1) play again on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at Waverly (0-5) at 7:30 p.m.
The McClain boys (1-2-2, 0-1-1) have another game on Saturday, Sept. 9 at Eastern (1-5-1) at 12 p.m.
The Miami Trace girls (2-2-1, 0-1-1) are back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at Waverly (2-1-1) at 5:30 p.m.
The McClain girls (1-1-1, 0-1-1) compete next on Saturday, Sept. 9 at Eastern (1-3-1) at 10 a.m.