Two late set-piece goals by Floyd Central undermined a one-goal lead and overall solid effort by Seymour’s boys soccer team on Tuesday night.

Just two minutes after Juan Fernandez scored from 25 yards to give the Owls the lead, Floyd Central responded with a header by Rayden Freiberger to equalize. Ten minutes after that, a header by Malachi Banet put the Highlanders on top and allowed them to escape with a 2-1 victory.

The loss dropped the Owls (6-5) to 2-2 in the Hoosier Hills Conference, all but putting their title hopes out of reach. The win kept Floyd Central undefeated in league play at 3-0 (6-4-1 overall).

“It was two set pieces that let us down,” Seymour head coach Matt Dennis said. “In the run of play, we were up 1-0, but we got beat on two set pieces. It hurts, it stings. The good news is we can look on film, and we can fix that problem. It hurts tonight, but the boys responded to everything I asked them to do.”

During the first half, Seymour generated four shots on goal to Floyd’s two, both of which were taken from distance and didn’t test Owl goalkeeper Lance Hubbard.

The Owls’ chances, meanwhile, were promising. A shot off the right foot of Thai Daraswad from the top of the Highlanders’ penalty area caromed off the right post and bounced tantalizingly across the face of the Floyd goal but was eventually cleared.

An earlier shot from Marckenson Paul from the right side was sent with pace and intent but was also directly at FC keeper Grant Baker, who easily corralled it.

Not until 19 minutes into the second half did either team find the net. Seymour’s Juan Fernandez collected the ball outside of the Floyd 18-yard box, took a touch and delivered a high shot that Baker attempt to punch over the crossbar. Instead, the ball hit the bar, ricocheted off Baker and bounded into the goal.

“It was just in the moment, and I decided to shoot,” Fernandez said. “I was getting attacked from the left side, so I took a touch and hit it with the laces of my shoe. I just launched it. Luckily it dipped enough to where it chipped the goalkeeper. It’s been a minute since I scored a goal, so I just took off (towards the student section to celebrate).”

Fernandez’s last goal came against Madison last season. Given Seymour’s defensive effort to that point, protecting a 1-0 lead for the match’s remaining 21 minutes seemed like a winning proposition.

Floyd Central, however, earned a corner two minutes later and, with 19:53 remaining, Freiberger redirected Medo Khalil’s well-placed crosser into Seymour’s goal.

Banet’s game-winner came ten minutes later. A Seymour foul near the Owls’ goal line gave Floyd a quasi-corner kick. Khalil again served a dangerous ball into the area in front of the Seymour goal, with Banet stepping forward.

Seymour’s frantic late attempts to tie the game nearly succeeded with 4:30 to play. An entry pass by Fernandez found teammate Myles Chandler, who one-touched a shot to the far post that Baker saved with a diving stop.

With three minutes remaining, Floyd narrowly avoided an own goal when an attempted clearing header by a Highlander defender instead bounded toward, but wide, of FC’s goal.

With a home match on Thursday vs. Madison and a trip to Lawrenceburg on Saturday, the Owls don’t have much time to dwell on Tuesday’s loss. It won’t be far from their minds, however, as sectional play approaches in three weeks.

“I’m proud of the effort tonight,” Dennis said. “We switched formations, and we did it seamlessly. We were threatening at all times in the match. There have been years that we’ve played Floyd Central and we’ve sat back. This was not one of those years. We got on the front foot. We’ve got three weeks to figure out how to put 80 minutes together.”

Floyd Central 2, Seymour 1

Scoring

Second half

S-Juan Fernandez, 21:53

FC-Rayden Freiberger (Medo Khalil), 19:53

FC-Malachi Banet (Khalil), 9:44

Statistics

Shots: Floyd Central 9, Seymour 7

Saves: Floyd Central 5, Seymour 5

Fouls: Floyd Central 5, Seymour 6

Corners: Floyd Central 2, Seymour 0

Varsity record: 6-5-0

JUNIOR VARSITY

Floyd Central 2, Seymour 1

Scoring

First half

FC-Tucker Harris, 19:24

Second half

FC-Landon Zapata, 15:07

S-Fernando Castellanos (Naythan Hernandez), 6:25

JV record: 3-5-2