By Cort Reynolds
In the final minutes of a scoreless Div. III district final battle Saturday night, the Bluffton High School boys soccer team gave up a penalty kick goal and lost 1-0 to visiting Mansfield Christian under the lights on a cool but wind-less Saturday evening, October 29, at Steinmetz Field.
The Pirate season finished at 10-7-2 after the difficult defeat. The third-seeded Flames improved to 15-6-1 following the hard-fought road win.
The match was evenly-played but scoreless in the first half, with few good scoring chances for either team.
Pirate keeper Kyle Basil saved an MC header 10 minutes into the fray. Flame Anthony Smith's left side shot was saved by Basil just over a minute later.
Basil then made a nice sliding kick save. Ben Hartzler blocked an MC shot at the 24:30 mark.
A Pirate right corner kick was saved by the Flame keeper at the 18:05 mark. A long right side ball was saved by Griffin Baker at 7:46. Another long ball was stopped by the senior MC keeper 90 seconds later.
Pirate Theo Andreas just missed a left-footed bullet shot from the right side at the 6:18 mark.
Basil saved a soft shot from inside the box with 4:18 to go.
Bluffton then had the best opportunity of the half when Baker dropped a high ball in the box. But the Pirate rebound shot off the loose ball from seven yards out clanged hard off the left upright to keep the match scoreless with 2:03 left.
Basil made a nice leaping save at the 1:14 juncture. Another Pirate shot went wide with 32 seconds left before intermission.
Bluffton had a nice crossing pass sail sideways through the box 90 seconds into half two, but no one was there to challenge goalie Baker.
A Pirate corner kick led to a header which bounced into the goal area with 35 minutes to go, but the shot was turned away.
Bluffton had multiple shots in the box at the 30-minute mark yet was unable to score after the initial shot was blocked.
Senior forward Nolan Hoffman's running shot off a great pass was deflected wide on a great lunging save by Baker at 27:45.
Baker then made a leaping one-handed punch save off a penetrating Pirate corner kick to keep the game scoreless seconds later.
An MC right corner kick was stopped at 24 minutes. Ethan Oglesbee's shot was blocked a minute later.
A nice penetrating ball by Hoffman was booted hard out of bounds by a sliding Flame at 19 minutes.
A long Pirate free kick was headed three times out of the scoring area by multiple MC defenders at the 17:10 mark.
A long Flame ball in front of the Pirate goal was turned back by Basil and the Bluffton defense at the 14-minute mark.
Andreas had a direct kick from 25 yards out on the left side with 10:20 to go, but it was headed out hard into a Flame counter-attack that was quickly snuffed out.
A Flame shot was blocked by a defender at the 8:36 juncture. A long MC shot was partially blocked and headed out almost a minute later.
Hoffman's running left-footed shot off a nice give and go return pass sailed wide left with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
Baker went up amid a crowd to grab a high Pirate direct kick at the 4:30 mark. He bobbled it on the way down, but was able to smother the ball while pushing Hartzler out of the way a few yards from the goal.
MC then pushed the ball upfield and earned a penalty kick at the 4:12 mark. Flame junior Isaac McFadden calmly punched the shot into the right corner as Basil dove in the other direction to give MC a 1-0 lead.
Bluffton missed a header at 2:12, and Oglesbee sailed a good rebound shot well over the goal as he rushed the left-footed blast slightly.
A hard Hartzler shot also went well over the goal at the 1:35 mark. The Pirates kept the pressure up, but the Flame defense bent without breaking.
Flame keeper Baker then went high amid a crowd to pull down a last-gasp Pirate shot with six seconds left to preserve the slim lead and clinch the hard-fought win.
A very frustrated Hoffman pounded the turf after the tough loss ended his final Pirate game at home.
Seven other teammates played their last game for Bluffton: Justin Good, Eden Antrim, Oglesbee, Xander Mays, Luke Shepherd, Emerson Meza and Landon Novak.
With the late win, MC advanced to the regional semifinals vs. Ottoville Wednesday, November 2 in Tiffin at 6 p.m.
