The Chillicothe Hornets soccer team traveled to St. Joseph on Tuesday night to take on MEC opponent Lafayette. The Hornets entered the contest 1-1 on the year while Lafayette was still looking for their first victory of the season.
Chillicothe got the scoring started early as Isaac Bailey took a shot from the left side of the penalty box in the 10th minute of the game, his shot was palmed away but the rebound deflected into the mouth of the goal, Lake Englert was waiting on the back post and finished the play off to give the Hornets an early lead. Chillicothe’s defense anchored by Bradley Ferguson and Charlie Reeter kept the Fighting Irish scoreless in the first half.
Within one minute of returning on the field from the halftime break the Hornets doubled their advantage. Chillicothe earned a free kick 30 yards away from goal and Ferguson stepped up to deliver a beautiful ball over Lafayette goalkeeper Jackson Keller and under the crossbar, burying it directly into the back of the net. Six minutes later the Hornets added another when Englert took a throw in on the left side of the field, deep in Chillicothe’s offensive half, the throw bounced off the head of a Fighting Irish defender and across the goal line for an own goal. The Hornets three goal lead was cut to two with 30 minutes remaining when Lafayette’s Fernando Ramirez connected on a strike from the top of the box into the side netting.
The Hornets closed out the game well to win by a final score of 3-1. Smith Link played in goal for the Hornets and finished the night with 4 saves. Chillicothe concluded the match with 7 shots on goal and 6 corner kicks, compared to 5 shots on target and 0 corners for the host Fighting Irish. The Hornets are now 2-1 on the season and will play next on Saturday at Mexico.