By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | October 23, 2012
The Wellsboro boys soccer team fell to Benton in the opening round of District IV playoff action tonight, 5-0.
For 60 minutes the game was back and forth with Benton leading 1-0, but Wellsboro's youth and inexperience started to show. Mental mistakes led directly to each of the last 4 goals by Benton.
"It is unfortunate that the score line did not reflect how competitive the game was," said head coach John Shaffer. "I feel for those seniors who did invest a lot in this year, as I'm sure this is not the way they saw it ending."
The Hornets were able to get 5 shots on goal and 2 corner kicks, but were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. Sophomore Jake Mitchell also recorded 6 saves in goal.
Despite the loss, Coach Shaffer is optomistic about the his team in the coming years.
"Overall this season is a positive. The team got two huge recruits in Dylan Prough and Brandon Owlett. They improved every time they stepped on the field.
"We knew we had a young team and Coach Todd Fitch and I feel like the there was great growth for many of the young players," continued Shaffer.
In closing, Shaffer remarked that next year's focus is on winning a district game.
With the loss, the Hornets end their season 7-11-1 overall (5-3 NTL West).
Ed Weaver is the owner of Circle W Sports in Wellsboro, PA, is the Sports Director for The Home Page Network and the creator of WellsboroAthletics.com and WellsboroFootball.com. You can follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.