The Franklin County High School boys soccer team lost to the Central Magnet Tigers 2-0 on the road Thursday in the District 8AA championship game.
The top-seeded Tigers scored both of their goals in the second half with second-seeded Franklin County not being able to answer back as the team settled for a runner-up finish in the bracket.
Franklin County head soccer coach Kent Bean said that the game came down to a few key mistakes from his team in what was otherwise an even game.
“It’s a tough one to lose. We talked at halftime when it was 0-0 about it just coming down to one opportunity which is going to be the game-changer,” he said before referring to the first scoring play for Central Magnet. “It was just a little mistake on defense, and (the Tigers) capitalized, got the momentum and were able to get another (goal) pretty quick on just another little mistake.”
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the first half, but neither was able to break through for a goal as the game was scoreless going into the halftime break.
Franklin County’s Kevin Hernandez got a shot past Central Magnet’s goalkeeper in the opening minutes of the second half, but the ball hit off the left goalpost and rolled harmlessly out of bounds.
The Tigers broke the scoreless tie with 33:25 remaining in the contest as the ball bounced in front of Franklin County’s net several times following a cross before a Central Magnet player deflected the ball across the goal line.
The Tigers scored again about seven minutes later with a long shot finding the back of the net to put Franklin County in a 2-0 hole with 26 minutes to go.
Franklin County wasn’t able to respond offensively in the time remaining as the team was shut out for the third time this season.
Following the conclusion of the game, Loui Arellano, Brody Metcalf, Alex DeWolfe and Cason Eslick were named first-team all-district for the season, and Garrison Orr, Mason Baggett, Tim Salakhov and Isreal Mendez were given second-team all-district recognition.
Hernandez, Eslick, Arellano, Metcalf and Josiah Cruz were named to the district’s all-tournament team.
For individual awards, Hernandez was named a co-MVP of District 8AA for the season while Cruz was a co-recipient of the Most Valuable Defender award for the district.
With the loss, Franklin County moved to 7-5-3 on the season.
The boys soccer team will next play Tuesday at Cumberland County High School or Livingston Academy in a semifinal game for the Region 4AA tournament. A start time for the game had not been confirmed at the time of writing.
