PIQUA — Lehman Catholic is still looking for a breakthrough after losing 2-0 to Piqua at Wertz Stadium on Saturday.
The Piqua boys improved to 3-3-3 with the victory while Lehman dropped to 4-3-1 on the season.
Lehman coach Cameron Jock was disappointed in giving up the two second-half goals, but said his team is continuing to make progress.
“Overall, we played pretty well. We just had some mental breakdowns, which has been our story,” he said. “We possess and pass the ball well for a team of our skill level. We are close, we just haven’t broke through yet. Our best soccer is ahead of us.”
Jock also said Lehman benefits from playing bigger schools like Piqua and Sidney, who defeated the Cavaliers 3-1 earlier this season.
“I think it is good,” he said. “Those schools tend to have a lot more athletes to choose from. I am not saying we got run off the field, but they have good speed. And we saw today the physicality you see from those types of teams and that is good for us.”
After a scoreless first half, where there were few serious threats by either team — Piqua was able to breakthrough in the second half.
With 30:46.9 remaining, Nathan Buechter was able to take a cross from Ethan Heidenreich and find the corner of the net to get Piqua on the board.
With 15:57.1 to go in the game, Piqua took advantage deep in Lehman’s end.
Eli Baker came up with a steal and sent the ball toward’s the goal.
After goalie Will Voisard managed to get the ball just before it went in the goal and knock it back in play, Kyle Pierre fired a shot off the post. Zander Jones followed the deflection to make it 2-0.
Both teams had just two shots on goal, with Davidson making two saves for Piqua, who had nine total shots.
Piqua goes to West Carrollton on Tuesday and Miami East on Saturday, while Lehman hosts Franklin-Monroe on Tuesday.
Piqua is 3-0 when scoring at least two goals — and the Indians had scored just two goals in their last four games.
“That was huge for us,” Piqua coach Bob Jennings said. “Just being able to score. Our defense has been playing fantastic all year. Kamden Davidson has done a great job stepping up in goal for Deacon Buechter, who is injured. We just haven’t been able to score.”
