Tigers, Bearcats play to tie

SPENCERVILLE - Jackson Center and Spencerville played to a 2-2 tie at Memorial Field on Thursday night as both teams opened up the WOSL portion of their schedule. 

During a fast and physical first half the visiting Tigers reached the scoreboard first off of a corner kick and a headed bouncing ball kicked into the back of the net by Trevor Sosby. Sosby's team leading fifth goal of the season put his team on top 1-0 with 18:22 remaining before the halftime buzzer.

Goal keepers Dominic Adkins of Spencerville and Candon Calhoun of Jackson Center fought off multiple rushes from opposing offenses in the goal box for the rest of the half to keep the score at just a single goal advantage at the break. 

In their past three meetings on the pitch the Tigers had outscored the Bearcats 20-1 on their way to a trio of wins, but found themselves on this night when the second half opened up taking on a fast and furious Spencerville attack looking to even things up quickly.

Will Gallaspie, a sophomore forward charged through the heart of the Jackson Center defense just a minute into the second half and tied up the contest as he scored with a shot from the outside corner of the goal box over the outstretched hands of Calhoun for a score. 

"Will Gallaspie was a powerhouse late using speed and foot skill to nearly pull out the victory" stated Bearcat mentor Joel Van Gorder on Gallaspie and his play on the evening. 

Moments after the Bearcats scored to even up the game the Tigers nearly pushed the lead back to their side but a ball headed into the goal by Trevor Sosby was disallowed due to an offside call. 

Still tied with 11:30 left in regulation the Bearcats charged up the pitch in a flurry once again and took a 2-1 lead on a goal by senior captain Evan Core. 

"We wore our new home uniforms tonight and this coach believes we did those new uniforms proud" Van Gorder said of his teams effort in their third game of the season.

Jackson Center's Trevor Sosby struck again on a loose ball in front of the net with 8:36 remaining to knot the game at 2-2 where it would ultimately end in a tie just like the 2015 contest between the two programs.

Spencerville's best chance to take a stranglehold of the contest came near the 16:00 mark in the second half off a free kick that was kicked and redirected off the cage crossbar and the football uprights and was not meant to be. 

Jackson Center is now 2-1-2 on the season and will take on Allen East on Tuesday while the Bearcats are 1-1-1 and will play host to Lincolnview the same night as part of a doubleheader with the girls program beginning at 5 P.M.