Mary Persons’ 3-goal lead sticks vs. Panthers
Down by three goals to Mary Persons High Friday, the Perry Panthers notched two points in about 70 seconds of play. They couldn’t carry that momentum into a tying score, and the Bulldogs escaped with the 3-2 Region 2-AAAA victory. The Panthers dropped to 1-1 in the region, 2-2 overall.
For the first eight minutes of regulation, the Panthers and coach Nathan Dooley were looking for their first clean shot on goal. It was at the 31-minute mark that Jharron Henley made that initial attempt off his head, and the Bulldogs from Forsyth had the save.
At 29:22, Perry goalkeeper Sean Swan showed some of his offensive guard/tight end skills from football with a leaping save. More often than not, Bryce Struckmeyer would send clearing kicks from his sweeper position high into the night sky.
The Panther attack on offense led to an advantage in corner kicks, two in the match’s first 13 minutes to none by MP. For all the corners and free kicks, including a solid 30-yarder from Daniel Ward at 26:15, Perry could not get any shots on goal.
In the 16th minute, the Bulldogs took advantage of an open opportunity to punch in the match’s first goal.
In the 22nd minute, Swan and the Panther defense redeemed themselves with two big clears. Nick Hall was there to help defend the net as the keeper moved to engage a Bulldog attacker. Swan paired with Ryan LeValley to clear a corner kick.
In a sign of how things would go for Perry, Brandon Loewen sent the ball towards the opposing net from 35 yards away. The keeper had to perform some magic to prevent it from crossing the important line with 16 minutes remaining.
Micah Lehenbauer also pulled off some great moves on the dribble, but could not shake his MP defender. At the 10-minute mark, Struckmeyer hit a 25-yard free kick; Hall claimed the rebound but shot over the net.
Mary Persons brought its own aggressive, physical style, and it resulted in a yellow card at 6:30. Loewen made the ensuing free kick of 25 yards, but it was saved. The Bulldogs, after seeing four straight attempts denied, went ahead 2-0 at 1:52 until halftime.
Perry’s first attack of the second half came at 34:55 on a pass from Hall to Loewen, whose shot was deflected for a corner (no shot). Struckmeyer had a 35-yard free kick at 30:20, but again the Panthers could not get anything near the net.
The Bulldogs were again quick to take advantage as, at 28:44, a misplay on defense resulted in a 3-0 match.
Before finally getting on the board, Perry had chances when Tay Owens’ attack had the Bulldog keeper playing on the ground (26:30) and the visitors needed to clear a corner with 22 minutes to play.
It was at 16:50 when Henley ended the shutout scoring from a right angle. Ward, at 15:41, had the margin down to one, 3-2, converting a 28-yard free kick.
Max Merritt was a main part of the Panther defensive effort, and Swan came up with a huge save at 11:02 against the top Bulldog attacker. Mary Persons also had a crossing shot miss wide at 9:37. Ward and Hall took Perry’s best attempts in the final nine minutes, both saved.
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