LEXINGTON — If Lexington coach Peter Them found any consolation in Saturday’s loss to Bay, it’s that his Minutemen didn’t come unhinged like they did a year ago.

Senior All-Ohio candidate Brock Pickett scored his 14th goal of the season as the top-ranked Rockets knocked off No. 4 Lex 2-0.

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The outcome was a far cry from last year’s regular season matchup, when Bay unloaded on the Minutemen 8-0. Lex would have its revenge in the regional semifinals, stunning the 2019 Division II poll champs 2-1 in overtime on a cold and rainy late-October night.

“They knocked us out last year,” Bay coach Bobby Dougherty said. “We’ve lived that loss every day since it happened. Much like we were their motivation last year, we have sat on (the tournament loss) for months now. The boys came in with a little chip on their shoulder.”

The match was scoreless for the first 29 minuets before Pickett found an opening and left-footed a shot past Lex keeper Kaleb Rinehart for a 1-0 lead with 11:10 remaining in the opening half. It would stay that way until early in the second when a defensive breakdown by the Minutemen (5-2) resulted in a soft goal by Bay’s Danny Kruzer with 36:40 left in regulation.

“We talk about non-verbal cues and the non-verbal cue between our two defenders wasn’t in the same direction,” Lex coach Peter Them said. “It was a layup for (Kruzer). You expect the kid to score in that situation.”

The two goals were more than enough for the Rockets (7-0), who have surrendered just one goal all season. Lex had a few scoring opportunities but couldn’t sneak a shot past Bay keeper Alec Carras.

‘When we put the ball down to play, we look alright. We do good things and we made some stuff happen,” Them said. “We’re still figuring things out, but for what this is I think we did pretty good.”

Dougherty said he wouldn’t be surprised to run into the Minutemen along the tournament trail again this fall.

“That is the team we would expect to see again in the regional. They are No. 4 in the state and they are there for a reason,” Dougherty said. “They’re gritty, they’re tough and they’ve got a very good senior group.

“We’ll keep our fingers crossed that we get to see each other again.”