Clear Fork, Lexington prepare each other for league championship runs

PHOTOS: Lexington at Clear Fork Boys Soccer

BELLVILLE — The Clear Fork Colts and Lexington Minutemen are in the thick of their respective boys soccer league championship races.

So, when they met on the pitch on Tuesday, Sept. 22, they helped each other take the next step toward the first goal of the season for both squads. Even though Clear Fork came away with an impressive 6-2 victory, both teams walked away more prepared to finish off their runs toward conference titles with just three games remaining in their league slates.

Clear Fork (8-1-1, 2-0) heads to Highland on Sept. 24 before hosting River Valley on Sept. 29 and traveling to Ontario on Oct. 13 to round out Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play.

The Colts are currently tied with Highland for the league lead and used the Richland County rivalry game with Lexington as a tune-up for the Fighting Scots.

"We were excited to play against a kid like Gabe McFadden, because he reminds us a lot of a kid who controls things for Highland," Clear Fork coach Nate Gailey said. "We went in wanting to game plan how to defend a kid like that so we can be prepared for what is coming next with Highland.

"Lexington is so quick, and we know Highland has a lot of speed that we cannot let get loose, so we got some valuable experience against that. We have had moments where speed hurt us this year, so we know we have to slow it down and this game allowed us to work on that."

AJ Swendal had three goals for the Colts while Finn Mcauley, Kade Beachy and Owen Weikle had one goal apiece. Weikle added an assist, while Wes Bunnell collected seven saves in goal.

Swendal knew Lexington would prepare the Colts for a chance to take a one-game lead in the MOAC when they take on Highland on Thursday, Sept. 24.

"Lex is such an organized team every time we play them," Swendal said. "They know soccer and know strategy and give it everything they have for 80 minutes. We are going to get that out of Highland, River Valley and Ontario. We are going to get their best efforts for 80 minutes."

Lexington (4-3-2) hosts Dover on Sept. 26 before traveling to New Philadelphia on Oct. 3 and hosting Madison on Oct. 6 to round out the Ohio Cardinal Conference slate. Lexington is currently tied in the loss column for the league lead with Ashland while Dover is just a game back making Saturday's contest important.

And the Colts helped prepare the Minutemen for it.

"They move the ball so well and their third-man runnings are very, very good," Lexington coach Peter Them said. "They have a lot of seniors who have been playing together for a long time and know each other well and that is something that cannot be coached."

Cam Turlo scored a goal and added an assist, while Dom Schroeder scored a goal in the loss, but Lex played a different style in the second half to try to create some offense, something they are going to have to do against Dover.

"They attack in waves, and their counterattack reminds me a lot of our remaining OCC opponents," Them said. "We figured out how to match up with guys who have a little more experience than us. Now, we just have to put it all together to make sense and come out on the right side when it means the most."

It was the first time Clear Fork knocked off Lexington since 2015 when the teams split the two regular-season meetings when they were both members of the OCC.

"It is a good feeling because I have so much respect for Pete and the job he does as well as that entire program," Gailey said. "They played them close the last several years, and it feels good to beat a great team like Lexington that just reloads year after year. It is a testament to how hard the boys work. It feels special. Finally, it only took nine years, but we got there."

The Colts broke a 10-game losing streak to the Minutemen even though Swendal thought it was much longer than that.

"We didn't think we have ever beat them, so all I kept saying to my teammates was, 'Let's go make history,'" Swendal said. "We were pumped and ready to go and fired away."