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Panthers finishing soccer season on a high note

Larry Banman
Sky-Hi News sports correspondent

The Middle Park Panther boys soccer team finished the year with seven victories in its last eight games and finished second in the Frontier League for the third consecutive year.

The Panthers will open the playoffs next Wednesday in a game that will be determined this Sunday when the seeding committee meets.

Middle Park defeated Sheridan, 1-0 on Tuesday night when Connor Lyle scored the only goal in the game. Lyle dribbled through the defense and took a good angle against the Sheridan goalie to net the game winner.



Patrick Barker, the netminder for the Panthers, registered the shutout. It was the fifth shutout in eight league games for Barker.

In a game played last Friday night against Bennett, the Panthers scored a resounding 10-2 victory. In that game, goals were scored by Lyle (2), Justin Coucke (2), Coleman Springer (2), Travis Potts, Michael Sobon, Brandon Rosas and Patrick O’Connell. Ramsey Blahnik registered two assists, Lyle had an assist as did Sobon, Potts and Justin Bondi.



“It was an outstanding home game for us,” Coach Andy Paugh said. “This was a fun game to watch from a home team’s point of view. The boys did a good job of spreading the ball around and getting everybody involved.”

In a look at league standings, Lake County finished in the top spot of the third straight year and was followed by Middle Park and Jeffersen. Even though Middle Park lost a tough match to Jefferson, 3-1, the Panthers have a better league record. Lake County is pitted against Jefferson in a game this week that should not affect the league standings. Those two teams matched up earlier in the season in the game that counted for league standings.

On Thursday, the Panthers traveled to play Frontier Academy in the final match of the regular season.


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