LCA Boys Soccer Earns NISC WinELKHART — Lakeland Christian Academy boys withstood many Elkhart Christian Academy attacks Saturday and came away with a Northern Indiana Soccer Conference victory.
The contest was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 20, but was postponed because of the threat of foul weather.
The Cougars beat the Eagles 2-0 at sunny Talon Field to improve to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in conference play. ECA fell to 4-2 and 0-2.
Elkhart Christian possessed the ball often in the Lakeland Christian end of the field and held a 7-1 edge in shots on goal and yet the match was tied 0-0 at halftime.
“They were the aggressor and I thought we just came out a little lackadaisical,” said LCA coach Dan Miller. “The second half was much better. We out-shot them (9-1).
“We matched their intensity (in the second half) and they are a pretty physical team. We played a little bit quicker. We needed to play one- and two-touch soccer as opposed to dribble, dribble, dribble. I was pleased that we were looking to play to feet a little more.
“We still can play a little better. But we were only in our sixth game and still have 10 regular-season games to go.”
The Cougars broke the deadlock in the 45th minute on a penalty kick goal by junior Brayden Lane. The opportunity came when the center official ruled that Eagles freshman goalkeeper Sean Oberholtzer had collided with Cougars senior forward Parker Stewart near the goal line and inside the penalty box.
Stewart was shaken up on the play and went out of the game while Lane took the penalty kick, which went to the right and into the net.
Lakeland Christian’s other goal was scored by Stewart on a breakaway in the 75th minute. Junior Garrett McKeever played the ball over the top and Stewart converted the pass into his team-leading 13th goal of 2019.
To be more disciplined on defense, Miller has been keeping more players back and taking offensive chances when they present themselves as they did often with Stewart.
“Parker is a great player,” said Miller. “He’s scored almost every game that we’ve played. He commands a lot of attention (from the opponent’s defense).
“The goal is to have more support for him. Elkhart was doing a good job of controlling the midfield, especially in the first half.”
LCA sophomore goalkeeper Peter Koller made 10 saves while Oberholtzer stopped six shots. The Eagles had all three of the match’s corner kicks — two in the first half.
“Our boys battled and we controlled the ball really well,” said Elkhart Christian coach Jeremy Hiler. “We controlled the far majority of the game.” Hiler addressed the play that led to the penalty kick.
“It was a 50-50 call,” said Hiler. “Sometimes they go for us, sometimes they go against us.
“Obviously, I disagreed with that one. But what are you going to do?
“(Stewart) is a heck of a player. There’s no doubt about it. We did very, very well against him. When you’re down 1-0 in the last 10 minutes of the game, you have to push. We know he could hurt us. They were able to get one out to him.
“(Freshman defender) Aaron Miller went toe-to-toe with (Stewart). I was proud of my guy.”
Lakewood Park Christian will visit Lakeland Christian Thursday. LCA and LP could meet again in the postseason. The Cougars and Panthers are both in the same IHSAA Class 1A Sectional.
