HIGH SCHOOL

Redskins fight two-goal deficit to tie Alexander

Cameron Teague Robinson
Reporter

COSHOCTON – A 3-1 lead in favor of the Alexander boys soccer team disappeared in the second half as the Coshocton Redskins battled back to earn a 3-3 tie.

In their season opener, the Redskins found themselves in Alexander's shoes, as they held a 3-1 lead against New Philadelphia, and watched that lead disappear.

So, when Ben Batchelor, who scored or assisted on every goal Saturday, tied the game with 6:48 to play, he was excited.

"We know how it feels to be on the other end of that. I was ecstatic," he said.

Senior defender Alex McPeak was happy about the result, but thought they could've won.

"I feel like we could've played better in the first half and just won the whole game, but I'm glad we came back and made the run we did," McPeak said.

The first half was a mixed bag for the Redskins. They didn't perform poorly, but they didn't perform up to their standards.

The first 20 minutes went by and neither team scored, or had a real dangerous opportunity.

But once Alexander opened the scoring with 18:10 to go in the half, things picked up.

The Redskins came right back with a goal of their own, following a Batchelor free kick. Junior, Jake Ramsey got on the other end of it and after a scramble for the ball by the Alexander defenders the Redskins got on the board.

The game wasn't tied for long, as Alexander got right back on the board with 13:28 to go in the half.

But still, things got worse before they got better for the Redskins. Alexander scored again with 3:33 left in the half and that would carry them into the break leading 3-1.

"I think we thought we were better than them in the beginning of the game," McPeak said. "We weren't trying our hardest, everybody was lazy, not going hard enough. We had a pep talk at halftime and came out better."

"(Coach) was just telling us about how we are a better team than that. That was the worst we've ever played," he added.

The Redskins, right out of the gate, in the second half, were focusing on possessing the ball better, something they didn't do well in the first half.

It couldn't have been more obvious, when the ball went straight to the back line and they began to pass the ball around, which, in the end, opened up holes in the midfield and allowed them to move the ball up the field.

"We just worked on going down the middle of the field and then getting it wide," Batchelor said. "We wanted to get good crosses in."

Their strategy worked right away, as Batchelor's ball to the left side of the penalty area, found freshman Tanner Moats' foot, who scored.

Moats' goal cut the Alexander lead to 3-2. But, the Spartans weren't letting the Redskins have the game easily.

After Moats' goal, the Spartans went on the attack, but time after time the Redskins' defense, which didn't play well in the first half, stood tall.

"Defensively we were a little more organized," coach Brian Dunlap said. "We were kind of out of sorts in the first half."

McPeak, junior David Edmunds and freshman goal keeper, Cameron Brown, led a defense that came away with every big stop it needed.

"We just stayed in front and quit stabbing," McPeak said. "We settled down a little bit and we started stopping them."

As, the defense held on, the offense was trying to tie the game up.

Their attempts came with no reward, until Batchelor received a pass in from Ramsey and beat the goalkeeper one-on-one to tie the game up.

But with 6:48 left on the clock, the game was far from over. The Spartans had multiple opportunities, none better, than a shot they got with less than a minute to go, but Edmunds stepped in front of the shot, saving it.

"I think it says a lot about the character and heart these kids have," Dunlap said. "Our program has been a winning program and I always told them, 'If you want to win a game you have to go get it they aren't going to give it to you.'"

The Redskins will have a chance to go out and get their first win of the season Tuesday against Cambridge at Kids America.

cteaguerob@gannett.com

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Twitter: @cj_teague