HCA settles on 1-1 draw with Bishop McLaughlin Hurricanes

SHADY HILLS - It is an old saying in soccer that goes, "You play for a win at home and a tie on the road."

That is exactly what the Hernando Christian Academy's soccer team did Thursday night in a 1-1 draw with Bishop McLaughlin in a key Class 2A, District 9 game.

Jeff Basciano scored the goal in the 45th minute of the second half for HCA while Bishop McLaughlin's leading scorer, Matt Gronau, countered with the equalizer in the 56th minute.

With the tie, Lions dipped to 3-1-2 overall and 2-0-1 in the district while the Hurricanes went to 3-1-3 overall and remained unbeaten in district action at 3-0-1.

For the entire match, Bishop McLaughlin controlled the tempo as HCA concentrated on playing defense. Because of that Bishop McLaughlin out- shot the Lions 24-4 in the game, which didn't surprise HCA Head Coach Matt Carrao.

"Overall I think we played some solid defense and we also got a couple of great saves from our goalie (Joe Harrell). We don't have a lot of depth on our team and they do, so we have to play really hard defense and keep plugging away," said Carrao.

When asked about if having to play defense all the time made it tougher on his team, the HCA coach agreed.

"That's true, but if you can match up one-on-one and get a 50-50 chance on every ball, that's fine with me. We need to possess the ball a little more so our defense can rest and get some more chances to score."

Scoreless at half

After a scoreless first half in which HCA was out-shot 12-0, the Lions got on the scoreboard first. Sean Bryne took a ball in the midfield and sent it ahead to Basciano, who got past one defender and had the goalie for Bishop McLaughlin, Diego Pestana, misplay it and let it go into the net for a goal.

But just 11 minutes later, Bishop McLaughlin came back to tie the score. James Christiansen had the ball on the right wing outside the HCA penalty box. He then passed it to Caelin Campbell, who sent a cross to Gronau, who drove the ball past Harrell from 20 yards out to tie the score.

Carrao said that because his team does not have the number of skilled players other teams have, they must play defense first.

"Like I said, skill-wise, they should beat us 8-0. I'm convinced of that. But we had the same game against Cambridge and they have as much if not more talent than Bishop McLaughlin. They out-shot us and had a ton of chances, but they only beat us 1-0."

Bishop McLaughlin Head Coach John Mayer thought his team should have won the game Thursday.

"It was disappointing," indicated Mayer. "We had a ton of chances but they played good defense and sometimes we hurried a little more than we needed too."

The tie was important for HCA as it kept it tied for the lead in the district.

"We're going to see them again at home later in the year and probably in the district tournament," Carrao said. "That was why it was important for us to come out of this game with at least a point."

In the end, Carrao said that defense helped his team stay in the game Thursday.

"We have to play strong defense, which means we have to do a lot of one-on-one marking and try to get a goal or two," Carrao said. "If you keep the game close, it's about heart and we win or lose a game because of heart."