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Lehman hands Botkins first loss

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Two of the area’s top small-school boys soccer teams hooked up at Lehman Thursday, with the third-ranked Cavaliers taking on the unbeaten and fourth-ranked Botkins Trojans.

Lehman broke a scoreless deadlock with a goal late in the first period, and went on to post a 3-0 victory to push its record on the season to 7-1.

Botkins drops to 5-1-3 on the year.

“It was a good team win,” said Lehman coach Tony Schroeder. “Cameron Jock really stepped up in his first full varsity game, and Dan Westerheide had three great saves.

“Botkins has an outstanding team,” he added. “And it was a close game. We had to be ready because when Botkins shoots, they’re rockets.”

The two teams appeared headed toward a scoreless first half when Jock passed to Mike McMahon, who then chipped it over goalie Alex Hemmert for the goal. Hemmert was able to get a hand on the ball, but it still found its mark with just 2:16 left before the intermission.

“That was a big goal for us,” said Schroeder. “Right before the half like that.”

It stayed that way past the midway mark of the second period, but in the 22nd minute, Wade Schroeder stole the ball and passed it to McMahon, who beat a Botkins defender and scored his second goal of the game.

Then with about seven minutes remaining in the game, Jock coralled a loose ball and scored in the corner of the net to ice the win for the Cavaliers.

Westerheide finished with 10 saves and Hemmert had 16 for the Trojans.

Lehman outshot Botkins 20-10.

On Saturday, Lehman will be the place to watch soccer. It starts with the girls playing county rival Anna at 11 a.m. The Lehman boys play Indian Lake at 1 p.m., with the junior varsity game between the two teams at 3.