MUNCIE, Ind. — The Delta Boys Soccer campaign has come to an end after a 3-2 loss to the Eastbrook Panthers.
Finishing the season at 8-8-1, the Eagles came into the matchup against the Panthers, confident of their chances to win the game in wake of a tough week of practice.
“We focused a lot on the mental prep for what a sectional feels like, what that environment feels like and what it takes to win in that environment.” Delta head coach, Kurt Griffis said.
The Eagles started out strong with a breakaway goal from Brayden Stanley midway through the first half. The Panthers responded with ten minutes left in the half after a penalty conversion from Andrew Diller.
Both teams came out of Halftime with even play but Levi Griffis broke the deadlock off a free kick to put Delat up 2-1. After Delta went down to 10 men, Eastbrook’s Sam Olson converted another penalty to square the game at two.
With just five minutes left in the game, Jonathan Olson gave Eastbrook the lead and the win with the final score, 3-2.
“They did a really good job of connecting with those outside backs and playing balls up to the towards and playing up to the wings. That, you know, we had to shift a lot, we had to hopefully stay organized and just keep them in front of us, ” said Adam Hallis, when asked about what made playing against Delta so difficult.
After the tough loss, the Delat Eagles look to turn to next season with hopes of having a better finish in the tournament.
“I think that next year, it just depends on what players are there and you build around the players that you have, formation, styles of play, all those things depend on the personnel that are available to you,” Griffis said.
Delta now turn to next season with hopes of rebuilding once again and finishing further in the tournament.
Contact Bryce Dmyszewicz with comments at badmyszewicz@bsu.edu
