For the third straight game, the Tippecanoe boys soccer team saw their tournament game cut short due to the eight-goal mercy rule. This time it was an 8-0 victory over Kenton Ridge to give the Red Devils a chance to compete in another District championship game. They advanced to battle Indian Hill last Saturday night.

“We played sloppy in the first half and now is not the time to play sloppy,” said Tippecanoe coach Joel Slyman. “Guys took the hard halftime speech and knew they had to play better. It was the seniors who brought them together and said let’s play better in the second half.”

“It was good to get some good goals tonight and what a finish by a senior Beckett Trzeciak on an absolute beauty in his last home game.”

Tipp scored quickly in the game’s opening ten minutes, when Cameron Smith found the net to give Tipp a 1-0 lead.

He wasn’t done. Smith came back and scored at 25:51, then completed the hat trick at 13:44 to give the Red Devils a 3-0 lead. His third goal came off a pass from Maddox Robinson.

Landon Haas, who would strike later in the game, just missed making it 4-0 in the opening half when his 30-yard laser was knocked away on a diving save from the keeper.

Tipp did make it 4-0 on a goal just 42 seconds into the second half when Robinson scored, and that opened the flood gates for Tipp. Less than a minute later, Haas contributed his goal to make it 5-0. Colin Turner would put the sixth goal on the board on a loose ball at 35:04.

It just became a matter of time before the mercy rule would take effect, where a team who gains an eight-goal lead would stop the game. AJ Jergens would score the seventh goal of the game for the Red Devils at 28:42, then Trzeciak closed out the scoring with a goal at the 17:37 mark of the game.

Tipp advanced to their ninth consecutive district championship game with the win.

“We are headed in the right direction as a team, and it is a revenge game now with Indian Hill,” Slyman said. “We are familiar with them, and it is a chance at a gold medal, which is what we are here for.”