Trinity Lutheran’s boys soccer team didn’t have enough offense to match Hauser and Franklin County Saturday in the annual Cougar Cup, and dropped both matches.
Trinity was tied with Hauser 1-1 at the half, but was outscored 3-1 in the second half and fell 4-2 in the first round.
The Cougars trailed Franklin County 3-2 at the half, but again was outscored 3-1 in the second half and lost 6-3 to conclude their home tournament.
“I thought we did a really good job," Trinity coach Joe Doggett said. "In the second game we got down and we played really hard. We played better teams, man-to-man wise, with more subs. We’re playing with no subs, but we’re just as good as they are. We just had a few less bodies.”
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Hauser took a 1-0 lead in the opening match before Trent Shoemaker scored off an assist by Rick Castro at 4:33 to tie the match at 1-1.
The Jets went up 3-1 in the second half before A.J. Goecker scored an unassisted goal to close 3-2 at 28:30, and the score remainder that way until the Jets scored off a corner kick with 2:48 remaining to close the scoring.
“We were down early in that game and never gave up,” Doggett said. “Man-for-man we’re just as good as any team out there. Sometimes breaks just don’t go our way and sometimes other things happen to us as well, out of our control.”
Hauser outshot Trinity 12-7 in that match.
In the consolation match, Goecker and Nathan Thompson scored goals for the Cougars in the first half, as Trinity trailed 3-2.
Kevin Cho added a goal in the second half but that was the Cougars’ only score of the second half.
“I thought our defense was good (all day)," Doggett said. "We had a new defensive formation, and we put Sawyer Doggett back in the back instead of putting him in the front as our main sweeper and we played very well that way.
“We moved the ball pretty well. I think we could have been more efficient. Our touches were weak, but as far as putting the ball in the right places we need to be more down-the-line than in the center, but I think we can fix all those.”
The coach praised goalie Brayden Stockelman for making some excellent saves, as he had 15 against Franklin.
The Cougars (3-10) will travel to Henryville tonight.