On Saturday 9/26, the Hillsboro Hawks took on the Seckman Jaguars in a soccer match, which was part of the 13th annual Hillsboro tournament. The final score of the game was 1-1 with Hillsboro getting the victory, after two overtime periods and five rounds of penalty kicks. After the match, head coach Sam Nansel said, “Playing 100 minutes of good soccer and not being able to get the win (in regulation) is hard. The boys played very well and we are proud of them for that.”
Seckman opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a goal, and maintained that lead all the way into extra time of the first half. However, Hillsboro finally answered back in the 41st minute. Austin Ruhl tied the game 1-1 with his goal, assisted by Ryan Walker. It was Ruhl’s first goal of the season.
The game remained knotted all the way through the second half as well as two 20-minute overtime periods. Finally, the game entered penalty kicks, where Hillsboro won by scoring all five of their shots to Seckman’s four. This was the second time this season that Hillsboro has gone to penalty kicks.
Goal keeper Tate Volmert came up big in the game, making 11 saves.
When asked about how the tournament was going, Walker responded with, “The tournament was definitely frustrating at times but overall I’m proud of our performance. Going to PKs was definitely upsetting because we fought so hard that game.”
This victory earned Hillsboro 4th place overall in the tournament, and put their current record at 2-7. “We have Seckman again Thursday, and I’m sure the boys will be ready for them,” added Nansel.
