Central Clarion Wildcats Boys Soccer Wins With Double Hat Trick Against ECC 8-1

Photos by Matt Lerch – (Above)

(By Matt Lerch)

The Central Clarion Wildcats boys soccer team focused their offensive energy during a late and misty game at Elk County Catholic, winning against the Crusaders 8-1 on Monday, September 30th. This was a follow up on their win Saturday against the Brookville Raiders 6-2 during Senior Recognition Day at Clarion-Limestone field.

With a record of 11-2 and only 5 games left before the playoffs, the Wildcats have a cumulative score of 91-11 against their competition during the 2024 soccer campaign.

(…) The Wildcats were clearly in the catbird seat against ECC when the scoring started immediately. The quick strike offense was clearly ready to play and midfielder Brenden Bettwy shot towards the goal with the ball bouncing off of a defender into the goal making the score 1-0. A minute later, Dany Schweitzer passed to Wyatt Boyden who shot and scored quickly making the score 2-0. But Wildcat goalie Isaac Lerch was met with an ECC striker who made the score 2-1 with almost 20 minutes ticking off the clock. Midfielder Thomas Uckert enjoyed a tremendous evening of passing and scoring with a solo goal adding to the score making it 3-1.

Defender Ky Clark was possessed during the evening. His first full throttle steal was down the sideline with the ECC left wing coming with the ball at high speed. Clark deftly stole the ball with the midfielder ready to strike the ball again, unaware the ball was going the other direction. Defenders Clark, Chris Kim, Brady Pierce, Carter Brown, Jason Megnin and Mason Gourley were able to assuage the attacks against their goalie by the ECC offense during the course of the game.

Left wing Layton Dunn then made a pass to Uckert who shot and created a 4-1 lead. The offense was passing the ball at will against the speedy and agile ECC defense and midfield. Many passes were up field breakaway passes with some shots making it to the back of the net and some barely missing. The ECC goalie deservedly gained recognition for making some unconceivable saves against the Wildcat offense.

Uckert then shot up field to the nimble Wyatt Boyden who made a left foot shot making the score 5-1.

But goalie Lerch wasn’t out of trouble yet. On a corner kick, several Crusaders crashed the net with defender Chris Kim quickly ejecting the ball out of the box and up field to the offense. After a few volleys back and forth, defender Brown cleared the ball instinctively to an awaiting Uckert who scored his hat trick goal of the evening making the lead 6-1 going into the half.

Lerch made 7 saves in the first half.

The Wildcats entered the second half with a comfortable lead. But, as history has shown with ECC, their conditioning and persistence is not to be taken lightly. Luckily, with the offense still hitting on all cylinders for the evening, Uckert lofted a corner kick to Boyden who shot and scored his hat trick goal of the night increasing the score to 7-1.

(An ECC penalty kick, following a yellow card)… was sure and true from 30 yards when goalie Lerch used all of his height to double fist the ball up over the goal. Lerch later said “that one was close, I didn’t think the ball had that much velocity but at the last second I made the punch.”

The pressure on Lerch continued in the next 20 seconds as a corner kick was shot and he had to make a diving hand save in the deep mud in the goalie box. The hard working offense of ECC made numerous salvos against the stout Wildcat defense only to be rebuffed time and time again.

Bettwy worked tirelessly with multiple shots on goal and finally found the back of the net on a steal from the ECC goalie clear, making the score 8-1. Lerch was then forced to make an ice hockey type goalie save with his knees down low. The Wildcat goalie made 5 saves in the second half for a total of 12 during the contest.

The Wildcats resume action at home tomorrow against Redbank Valley Bulldogs. The Bulldogs will be seeking retribution for their 4-0 loss to the Wildcats earlier in the season.

(Nice Win, Wildcats!!!! Thanks to Matt Lerch for his photos and the article!!)