Tipp claims MVL soccer title

It was a tale of two halves last week when the Tippecanoe and Butler boys soccer teams competed for what was the MVL championship at the Tipp Park.

Tipp owned the opening 40 minutes, building a small lead at the half, but Butler came back with a pair of goals in the second half to tie the Red Devils 2-2 in the league contest.

Despite the tie, the Red Devils claimed the Miami Valley League championship with a better league record as Butler also suffered a tie against Troy earlier in the season.

“You set goals at the beginning of the year, and the first goal is the MVL title,” Tipp coach Joel Slyman said. “We take pride and have a history of doing so. Our next goal is to get to a distinct final, but you can't get to the second goal without the first goal.”

“The guys realize winning the conference is important to us but they were disappointed tying Butler after leading 2-0. It is a good lesson, you need to finish the job, if you let a good team hang around, they will get you. But it was good to salvage the tie and win the league title.”

The two teams battled in the opening 15 minutes with nobody posing a threat on the goal, but with 25:55 left in the opening half, Colin Turner attempted to score when he headed the ball in the box, but his shot went over the bar and the game remained scoreless.

With 23:44 left in the first half, Dom Mendiola took a penalty kick after a Butler infraction in the box gave Tipp a great scoring opportunity. Mendiola blasted the ball past a defenseless Butler keeper and Tipp took a 1-0 lead.

“We wanted to get out to a good start on Senior Night with 12 seniors,” Slyman said. “It is such an emotional night and knew Butler would be ready to go. Dom has been solid from the PK spot all season and we trust him. It was a great first half for us.”

Four minutes later, the Red Devils struck again.

Cam Smith scored on a solid play around the goal with 19:29 left in the first half to push the Red Devils lead to 2-0.

“We were playing well and his goal was something we practiced well,” Slyman said. “You know Butler was not going to give up easily.”

Butler nearly scored at 16:42 but the Tipp defense stood tall and without many more chances from either side, the Red Devils took the two-goal lead into the half.

The Aviators scored a penalty kick in the second half to cut their deficit to only one goal, then when they scored again later in the game, the game would start over from scratch at 2-2. Goals in the half came from Connor Grolnick and Brody Rosenkranz.

“The first 29 minutes we did exactly what we wanted to do, but we had 2-3 opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net but could not do it,” Slyman said. “Butler got back in the game and their mindset changes if they are down 3-0 instead of 2-1. It is a lesson learned but a good lesson, we have to finish the game.”

The Red Devils hosted 2-10-2 Xenia yesterday in the opening round of the OHSAA Sectional playoffs, and a win brings Tipp back to the field at home Saturday night, 7 p.m. against 1-13 Bellefontaine.

Butler begins their tournament run Saturday against yesterday's CJ/West Carrollton winner.