Brandon Mount scored twice and Jared McPeek also found the net as Mansfield Christian advanced to the Division III boys soccer state semi-finals with a (3-1) victory over Fort Jennings in a regional final Saturday afternoon at Findlay High School.
It will be the Flames second straight appearance in the state final four. They beat Gates Mills Hawken (3-0) in last year’s semi-final before losing (2-1) to Cincinnati Summit Country Day in the final. They also advanced to the regional final two years ago and lost to Ottawa Hills.
On Saturday, the Flames (17-2-2) allowed Fort Jennings only two shots on goal in 80 minutes of soccer. Coach Stephen Armstrong says they were able to dominate possession and keep the ball away from a physical Fort Jennings lineup.
“We were definitely able to possess a little bit more (Saturday) against Fort Jennings. I was excited to see our guys step up and do that. They were a pretty physical team,” said Armstrong. “We knew we were going to have to attack them because they were going to play really hard. There were a couple of yellow cards, things got out of control a little, but the officials did a great job.”
Mount’s first goal game at the 29:29 mark of the first half to give the Flames a (1-0) lead. McPeek followed with 11:58 left in the half.
Fort Jennings only goal came when they were awarded a penalty kick due to hand ball with 37 seconds left in the half.
With appearances in the last three division three regional finals the Flames have a boatload of tournament experience. Armstrong believes that was a big plus for them on Saturday.
“It definitely helped our guys to keep a calm mind and to stay focused. Sometimes the players get nervous and that kind of takes over with emotion of the game. So, we intentionally tell them to stay focused and act like you have been there before. That definitely worked (Saturday),” he said.
A strong wind blew out of the north on a cold and blustery day in Findlay, but Armstrong says they have faced those conditions before and they knew how to handle them.
“We did our best in the first half when we were going against the wind we did our best to keep the ball on the ground. Anytime you kicked the ball in the air, you really didn’t know where it was going to go. So, we played the ball on the ground a lot in the first half and we got some good results,” he said.
Mansfield Christian will play Canfield South Range in the division three state semi-finals at Wadsworth High School on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
