For The Tribune
FRANKLIN
The Seymour boys soccer team put together what coach Matt Dennis called its most consistent match of of the season and came home from Franklin with a 2-1 win Saturday.
“We fought hard today,” Dennis said. “I told the boys this is the most complete 80 minutes we’ve had. Take out the first five when we allowed them to score, and we played 75 minutes and dominated that game.”
“We fought hard today. I questioned our heart Tuesday night after the Jeffersonville match, and the boys responded with a lot of heart today. It was hot. We were tired, but our fatigue never showed. Our fatigue never allowed them to get to a ball first.”
The officials allowed the players several water breaks during the second half.
“We were able to dictate play,” Dennis said. “Their guys were bent over at the knees and getting real tired. We saw that and we just kept fighting harder and harder. We talked a lot thing week about things you can’t coach, and playing with heart is one of them.”
He said he felt like the Owls controlled most of the 50-50 balls.
“We were first to the ball nearly every time,” Dennis said. “The time we weren’t first to the ball was because of poor clearance, and we didn’t quite get where we anticipated.”
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead at 34:44 of the first half, and Dennis said from that point on his team played well.
The Owls drew even at 1-1 on an unassisted goal by Renato Castillo midway through the first half, then took the lead for good on a goal by Ethan Greene with 6:51 left in the half.
Dennis said the Owls had good ball movement on both of their goals.
“Both goals were from great play where we combined the ball,” Dennis said. “The first one was unassisted, but there was stuff in the middle of the field that allowed that to happen, runs guys made that weren’t played that allowed Renato more space to dribble from half.”
The Owls attempted 19 shots and the Cubs tried 26.
“We counter-attacked well,” Dennis said. “Once we got possession I felt like we didn’t have to then work real hard. We let the ball work, we possessed, we combined, and we knocked it around mid-field. We found open space and our targets and our outside mid feeds. We were playing smart ball. When we had possession, they weren’t organized defensively. They were chasing the ball.
“We made them do that and I think that speaks to a lot of our guys thinking about the game well today.”
Austin Hatfield was in goal for the Owls and had 17 saves as keeper.
“The last couple minutes they were peppering our goal,” Dennis said. “He had one heck of a save where he came out and cleared the ball off the line after a throw-in. It was a job well done in the end.”
The Owls take a record of 5-3 into Thursday’s home match against New Albany.
