LCHS soccer boys win, break record

[October 06, 2012]  The LCHS boys soccer seniors closed out their last game on Handlin Field in dramatic fashion Thursday night. Hosting the 11-2-1 Bloomington Raiders on a blustery evening, the Railers played into the wind the first half.

After 15 minutes, the score was 2-0, Bloomington. Little did the visitors know that they would score no more until the final minute of the game and that the Railers were just starting to get warmed up. Kyle Klockenga had a goal off an assist from Tommy Harris to close out the first half with the Railers trailing 2-1.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, the LCHS seniors went to work. First, Klockenga scored a goal two minutes into the half, with another assist from Harris. Two minutes later, Harris took a pass from Trace Splain and slotted it into the net to give the Railers the lead for good. A couple of minutes later, a long throw-in from Harris was headed into the net by Sergio Morales. Just a couple of minutes after that, Trace Splain was fouled hard in the box, Harris netted the penalty kick, and the game was 5-2 Railers.

Bloomington had gone from being up 2-1 at halftime to being down 5-2 in just 10 minutes, and they were shellshocked.

The Railers would add one more goal late in the game as Kyle Klockenga completed his hat trick on an assist from Colby Leith. With two minutes to play, Bloomington finally got on the board again, but it was too little, too late.

This game was actually part of the Jacksonville tournament, so Lincoln moves on to face Normal U-High in Jacksonville on Saturday morning. The Bloomington Raiders, the No. 3 seed in the tourney, find themselves in the consolation bracket.

With the win, the Railers moved to 10-9 and also broke the team record for goals in a season with 64 so far this year. The old mark was 62, set in 2004.

[Text from file received from Tim Stuckey]