CHS forward Breyer Taylor(left) attacks the Siegel defense in Saturday’s home match
Missed scoring opportunities are usually bad things in high school soccer. On Saturday, Siegel missed 4 good scoring opportunities were a good thing and kept Coffee County in the game until the final whistle. The Raiders had their final shot stopped at just under 4 minutes remaining as they fell to the visiting Stars 2 to 1 on Saturday at the Raider Soccer Field. Lafredo Ramirez was strong in goal for the Raiders with 2 great saves in the 27th and 29th minute before a long Siegel volley found the back of the net in the 36th minute. The Raiders got a good chance to tie it on a free kick at the 37th minute, but the feed to the back post was just wide. Siegel’s first missed opportunity came in the 39th minute as Siegel got a shot past Ramirez only to have Benjamin Reid make a spectacular save on a ball off the cross bar. That sent the match into the half at 1 to 0.
CHS defender Benjamin Reid(right) marks a Siegel forward in Saturday’s soccer match
After 10 minutes of good defensive play in the midfield by both teams, Siegel converted a corner kick with a header in front of the net at the 56 minute mark to make the score 2 to 0. The Raiders battled back as Breyer Taylor, who was taken down inside the 18 yard box, volleyed his penalty shot through the Stars keeper to make the score 2 to 1. The next 15 minutes saw the Stars offensive attack pepper the Raider defense with shot after shot. Ramirez stopped the shots on frame that got to him, but the Raiders defense provided good support. Siegel did get off good shots at the 66 minute mark that hit the frame and a shot at the open net at 70 that clanged off the upright. Every Coffee County rally in the final 5 minutes was stopped dropping the Raiders in the non-district contest. Coffee County returns to the home pitch on Thursday night for a pivotal district match with Shelbyville. The match will kick off at 7:00 PM.
