Landon Burns (left) and Andrew Trout (right) return down the field with Merrick Montgomery after Montgomery scored during a match against Hillsboro Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 at Miami Trace High School.
Chris Hoppes | Record-Herald
The Miami Trace varsity boys soccer team hosted the Hillsboro Indians for a Frontier Athletic Conference match Thursday, Sept. 12.
Miami Trace took a 2-0 lead, but gave up four unanswered goals to fall, 4-2.
The result put the Panthers’ record at 4-4-1 overall, 1-3-0 in the conference.
Hillsboro improved to 5-1-0 overall, 2-0-0 in the FAC.
For Miami Trace, junior Merrick Montgomery scored both goals.
Junior Landon Burns had one assist, the other goal was unassisted.
Senior Judah Brandyberry scored for the Indians.
A penalty kick was converted by senior Austin Bledsoe with 2:59 to play in the first half to tie the match.
In the second half, Hillsboro scored at the 22:51 mark and capped the offense with a goal by senior Wesley Bailey with 6:52 to play.
“He’s been their leading scorer this year,” Miami Trace head coach Josh Thoroman said of Bailey. “Bledsoe is another of their senior go-to guys.
“They’re undefeated in league play with wins over us and Jackson,” Thoroman said.
The loss broke a three-game win streak for Miami Trace.
“We had a three-game win streak going,” Thoroman said. “We had gotten a game above .500. Our team is going to take this one hard and they should. We were at that level to compete with (Hillsboro) and Jackson, both. So, it hurts to be 1-3 in the league.
“At the same time, you’re looking at a Hillsboro team that is 5-1,” Thoroman said. “We lost to Chillicothe who is 3-2 and undefeated in league play. They’ve won the league (numerous times) and are loaded with seniors. Chillicothe lost to London who has 11 seniors, including eight starters that are seniors.
“Of our four losses, we’ve lost to some really tough competition,” Thoroman said. “We have to have a short memory and put this one behind us. We were up tonight, 2-0 and playing well. Three of their goals were our fault. They’re a good team with good players. We made some mistakes on three of the goals they scored.”
Miami Trace got back up above .500 with a 4-1 win at home against Circleville Saturday, Sept. 14.
The Panthers led 1-0 at halftime and outscored the Tigers 3-1 in the second half.
