BELLVILLE — For Lexington, it was a tuneup before the start of the postseason. For Clear Fork, it was a road map — showing the Colts where they are and where they want to go.
The state-ranked Minutemen blanked the previously-unbeaten Colts 4-0 on a chilly Tuesday night at the Colt Corral, but the final score wasn’t what mattered to Lex coach Peter Them or Clear Fork coach Nate Gailey.
“That is one of the positives of playing these guys at the end of the year,” said Gailey, who graduated from Lex and was teammates with Them. “We are presumably playing our best soccer and hopefully they are. It is a good measuring stick.
“It will serve us well down the road.”
Lexington (12-3-0) got out to an early lead when Trevor Fehr snuck a left-footed shot past Clear Fork keeper Luke Bailey in the fifth minute. The Minutemen had opportunities to expand the lead in the first half, but Bailey and the Colts (11-1-3) were up to the task and Lex took a 1-0 advantage to halftime.
“I think we left a few on the field in the first half for sure,” Them said. “I told Ryan (Parker) some nights (the goal) is as big as the moon and other nights it’s smaller than a penny.
“I thought the boys held their own and did what we needed to do.”
Lexington struck early and often in the second half, scoring three goals in the opening 10 minutes to put it away. Fehr scored his second goal with 36:25 to play before Gage Potter headed in a Parker pass for a 3-0 advantage less than two minutes later. Will Hostetler capped it with a rebound goal with 30:58 remaining.
“I think the adjustments we made for the second half made a big difference,” Them said. “In the first half we couldn’t crack it as much as we wanted to.”
Clear Fork concludes the regular season at home against Division I Ashland on Thursday. The top-seeded Minutemen open tournament play at home Monday against 10th-seeded Clyde. The Colts are the No. 3 seed in the Division II district tournament but are on the opposite side of the bracket from Lexington. A rematch wouldn’t come again until the district final.
“Our goal is just to see them again,” Gailey said. “If we do that, then we know we’ve made a good run in the postseason.”
