mbrown@sunmulti.com
On March 18, the Perry High boys soccer team didn’t get to see if an early 1-0 lead on non-region rival Peach County High would hold up due to stormy weather at home. Four days later, the Panthers got to play 80 full minutes with that slimmest of shutout margins in a match that counted in the 2-AAAA standings.
Nathan Dooley’s charges passed the test, holding off the West Laurens Raiders 1-0 to improve to 3-1 in region play heading into this coming Friday’s battle with unbeaten and league leading Veterans High on the Warhawk campus.
At 33:18 of the first half, Daniel Ward charged down the right sideline and scored on a crossing shot.
For the rest of the half, the Panthers took target practice on the Raider net yet somehow never could increase that advantage. In a span of about 39 seconds (ninth to 10th minute), Perry had two low shots from the fringe of the penalty box saved. One of those was by Ward off a pass by Luke Lineberger.
Lineberger sent a midfield lead to Ward that the Raider defense played for a Panther corner kick at the 25-minute mark. Lineberger took the corner, and it was Ward charging in for a header that was saved.
Micah Lehenbauer also had two shots saved in the first 18 minutes of action.
West Laurens made its first serious run at the goal with less than 19 minutes on the clock. Ryan LeValley supported his goalkeeper, Sean Swan, with a clear. The Raiders had a corner kick, and Swan crawled on the grass to cover the ball.
Swan got the ball to Tay Owens, who sent a lead upfield to Jharron Henley on the visiting keeper’s left side. Previously, all the Perry attacks from Ward and Lehenbaur were by the right sideline.
The Raiders defended Henley, but it gave Perry what would end up being two corner kicks. Ward made a pass over to Lehenbauer, but his shot hit the top bar.
Henley worked Perry into another corner at 11:40, but the Raiders used their head for the clear. Lehenbauer recovered it for a saved 20-yard blast.
At 9:30, Lehenbauer drew a foul for a 19-yard free kick. After much action in the box, the ball ended up back outside the box for a Lehenbauer pass to Lineberger, but the shot missed high.
Perry’s last chance for a bigger halftime lead was at 5:40 when Colton Armistead received a lead from Lehenbauer only to see what had to be the sixth Raider save in the 40-minute period.
The second half was much more even, which meant much more action for the Perry defense and Swan. It still began, though, with Henley going high in an attempt to convert Ward’s pass in the box during the opening minute.
It took five minutes for the Raiders to get a corner kick, though two Panthers were there to head the ball out. Perry came back with two more big opportunities, one where Ward was denied (31:18).
Swan played the ball at both 28:27 and 25:34 as he received help from Max Merritt and Bryce Struckmeyer. At the 23-minute mark, Merritt was a huge help to the keeper in securing a tying effort.
West Laurens’ midfield was up to the challenge of maintaining pressure and earned a free kick at 19:45. The Panther wall deflected the strike, and at 18:51 Swan saved a close-range attempt. Perry moved quickly the other way to earn a free kick at the left of the box. Ward’s shot, though, was saved.
What could be called a ‘Swan dive’ by the Perry keeper occurred at 12:20, and Owens provided serious support at 11:22 when Swan couldn’t handle a strike.
The Raiders didn’t get anything close for the remainder of regulation, but neither did the Panthers except for a 19-yard free kick at 6:10 Struckmeyer hit but was caught low.
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