WINONA LAKE — The Manchester boys soccer team had its perfect season blemished at Lakeland Christian Academy Tuesday evening. Coming in with a 10-0 record, the Squires (10-1) were dealt their first loss by the Cougars (7-6), for whom senior Bryce Glock score five goals and had an assist in LCA's 6-4 victory. "He's not our main goal-scorer, but (Glock) may have the best shot on the team and he was on today," LCA coach Joel Popenfoose said. "He hit almost every shot he put on goal." Though the final score did consist of 10 goals, LCA led 2-1 with just over 20 minutes remaining. But that's when things picked up. Between the 20:15 and 10:35 marks, the game saw five goals scored, three for LCA and two for Manchester. Trailing 5-3 late in the game, Manchester senior Kegan McNeeley attempted to score his second goal of the game, but his long shot bounced off the cross bar. Had it gone in, the Squires would have closed to within a goal with 2:30 to go. As it was, Glock responded with his fifth goal of the game 36 seconds later, increasing the Cougars' lead to 6-3 with 1:54 left in the game. "It's hard to swallow," Manchester coach Dave McKee said. "I've never been here before — being 10-0 — never been 10-1. It's alright. Some of the guys are taking it really hard, but they'll wake up in the morning and start another day." While the game will be one for the Squires to forget, for Glock it's one he'll be remembering for a while. Glock got the game started with goals in the fourth and 11th minutes, both off assists from junior Stephen Danielian. His two scores helped his team build its 2-1 lead at the half, as Manchester sophomore Ben Godoy-Forrester added a goal in the 17th min. Glock got it going again in the 60th and 64th minutes, making things comfortable for the Cougars. McNeeley cut the gap to 4-2 in the 66th minute, netting his 15th goal of the year, but LCA senior Jon Vida got the goal back a minute-and-a-half later. The two teams went back and forth from there, as Manchester senior Martin Andersen scored on a penalty kick three minutes later, followed by another Glock goal and a Squires score by junior Tom Naragon with 1:01 left in the game, resulting in the 6-4 final. "You have to give credit to Lakeland Christian, but we just didn't play the same way we have been through the year," McKee said. "We gave them three goals. We made the pass for three of their goals." Manchester's biggest problem against LCA was the Cougars' counter-attack. While Manchester was trying to score against a box full of Cougars, LCA was able to get numerous 3-on-3 opportunities thanks to long passes and successful counter attacks. "They didn't defend the counter attack at all," Popenfoose said. "A lot of the give-and-goes, the wall passes and our runs coming out of our midfield were never marked. That's why we always seemed to be so wide open on those counter attacks." The counter attack success was evidenced by LCA's five shots on goal in the second half, and four of them getting into the net. "We left a big gap in the middle of the field because everyone was pushing up," McKee said. "That happens." Making LCA's high-scoring win even more impressive was the fact it played half of the game without one of its top offensive threats in Danielian. According to Popenfoose, Danielian suffered a hip flexor injury in Saturday's loss at Warsaw, and struggled to overcome it against Manchester. "I wasn't sure if he was going to play today, but he said if was alright," Popenfoose said. "By the time the game got past halftime, I was pretty sure he was going to end up coming out. He tried it in the second half, but it didn't work." Following the win, Popenfoose was happy with the win, but the same couldn't be said for his feelings on his team's play. "We didn't play well at all," he said. "I expected much better play. We were slow on the 50-50 balls, we didn't win those. We didn't go hard in the challenges, but it's hard to complain a whole lot when you win and score six goals." Even though the loss was Manchester's first of the year, McKee believes it may be beneficial in the end. "We've been humble, but this has to give the guys a kick in the butt," McKee said. LCA is back in action Thursday at home against Bremen, while Manchester hosts Winamac Tuesday.
LAKELAND CHRISTIAN 6, MANCHESTER 4 L — Bryce Glock (Stephen Danielian) 4th min. L — Glock (Danielian) 11th min. M — Ben Godoy-Forrester 17th min L — Glock (Drew Nieveen) 60th min. L — Glock (Bradley Bibler) 64th min. M — Kegan McNeeley 66th min. L — Jon Vida (Glock) 67th min. M — Martin Andersen (penalty kick) 70th min. L — Glock (Bibler) 79th min. M — Tom Naragon 79th min. Shots — LCA 21, Manchester 23; Shots on Goal — LCA 14, Manchester 12; Saves — LCA (Logan Pitts) 8, Manchester (Dylan Grossnickle) 8; Fouls (yellow card) — LCA 8, Manchester 11 (Derek Self); Offsides — LCA 0, Manchester 1; Corner Kicks — LCA 3, Manchester 3; Records: LCA 7-6, Manchester 10-1
