Tipp cruises past Xenia in tourney opener
As expected, the Tippecanoe boys soccer team had no trouble in their tournament opener last week, cruising to an 8-0 victory in a game stopped at the 31:41 mark of the second half due to the OHSAA soccer tournament rule of an eight-goal differential.
It was also a game that saw senior Landon Haas have a record-setting day for Tippecanoe, scoring five goals which allowed him to become the school’s all-time goal scoring leader. He also added an assist for a big night leading the Red Devils into the second round.
The Red Devils built a 5-0 lead at the half only to finish the game off in the first ten minutes of the second half.
“It is nice to get to eight goals, but credit to Xenia, they are a good defensive team by packing it in and we could not score against them the first time we played them,” Tipp coach Joel Slyman said. “We knew tonight was going to be a tough task and the guys put ball in the net and scored and I am proud of the effort.”
“We still have things to improve on, but it’s good we got it eight and got to end the game early.”
Haas started his big night just three minutes into the game when he ripped a shot from 25-yards out right past the Buccs keeper to give Tipp a quick 1-0 lead.
The Red Devils had their chances with several shots at the net and with 33:25 left in the first half, Tipp struck again. Haas connected with Colin Turner for the second goal of the night for the Red Devils, then with 17:21 left in the half, Haas scored again on a long shot that zipped right past the keeper to push the lead to 3-0.
Tipp added two more goals in the first half, both by Haas. He headed the ball in off a pass from Dom Mendiola at 3:13 of the half to increase their lead to four goals and rounded out the first half scoring with another goal in the closing seconds of the half, increasing the Tipp lead to 5-0 at the break.
Tipp added three more goals in the opening ten minutes of the second half when Haas added his fifth goal at 37:56, Mendiola scored at 35:27 and the final goal came from Evan McEntyre to send Tipp into the second round.
“It was cool to be a part of history tonight with Landon breaking the record, I have known him and his family for so long,” Slyman said. “He puts in so much work, is a good teammate and he is a good player on the field. He deserves all the accolades.”
