Tipp soccer heads to the Final Four
Tipp City Boys’ Soccer - 2023
The best kind of revenge is a victory on the biggest stage. Tippecanoe did just that on Saturday when the Red Devils avenged their only loss of the season with a 2-0 victory over Summit Country Day (SDC) in the Division Two regional finals, sending the Red Devils back to the state Final Four tonight.
Earlier in the season, Tipp lost to Summit Country Day 3-1 and have not lost since.
“It’s hard to put this into words,” said an emotional head coach Joel Slyman after his team earned the big victory. “They did everything we asked of them and more and these guys were committed to the gameplan, and it was another revenge game.”
“We fed off of that and Michael Jergens made an unbelievable save in the first half and we fed off that.”
In addition to the big save from Jergens in the opening 40 minutes, it was Landon Haas coming through again for the Red Devils with a big goal to give Tipp the only tally in the first half of action.
“It was a flick ball and Haas got to the end of it and we work on it all day long,” Slyman said. “We needed the guy on the second ball and he was there and Landon is a big player…he plays well in big moments.”
Caleb Ransom had an early shot in the second half as the Red Devils tried to come out quickly and add to their slim lead, and with 21:34 left in the game, Haas delivered again.
With the ball around the net, Haas put his foot on it and ripped it past the keeper into the corner of the net, pushing the Tipp lead to 2-0.
Ransom and Haas both had legitimate chances to score and add to the lead over the next ten minutes but both came up short. Also getting a good shot off was Dominic Mendiola but it was wide left with 9:29 left in the game.
Summit Country Day tried to mount a comeback, but every time they looked like they would get the momentum, the Red Devils' defense would step up and answer. SCD did score with just under four minutes left, but the referee immediately called the goal off due to goaltender interference without much argument from the opposing fans.
“We will celebrate tonight but Sunday we are onto the Final Four,” Slyman said. “This is unbelievable, this is so big for the program. Look in the stands, the whole community is here, this is awesome.”
Tipp now plays Columbus Watterson Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at Marysville High School.
