McClain boys soccer suffers tough loss to Logan Elm

GREENFIELD — The McClain boys varsity soccer team lost a heartbreaker to non-conference foe Logan Elm Tuesday night in Greenfield by a slim 2-1 margin.

After a scoreless first half where McClain controlled the ball offensively for most of the time, they were unable to score on several close opportunities.

The Tigers were shutout in their first match of the season 6-0 by a very strong Unioto team, but played much better on Tuesday night, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

McClain scored the first goal of the match on a nice shot from Brayden Shover at the 33:54 mark of the second period.

“For the past week we’ve talked about addressing our scoring drought and getting somebody to put the ball in the back of the net,” McClain head coach John Gill said. “Brayden (Sticks) Shover was able to do that tonight early in the second half.

“We were able to hang onto that 1-0 lead for most of the second half until some things happened that were out of our control that swung the momentum in their favor late in the game.”

Logan Elm tied the game on a penalty kick by senior Mark Wilson with 15:53 remaining. 

The Braves scored game-winning goal with 1:17 left in regulation on a shot by another senior Drew Stant, off a deflection in close to the net.

“I really think for 60 or 65 minutes of this game we were the better team,” Gill said. “We had a lot more possessions and generated a lot more opportunities, but there’s only one way to win a soccer game and that still needs to be addressed.”

McClain (0-2) travels to Zane Trace on Thursday, Aug. 20 with a 7 p.m. start.