By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The 2023 season came to an end for the Peebles Indians boys soccer team on October 19 as they hosted Lucasville Valley in a Division III sectional final contest. A chilly and rainy night greeted the two squads of Indians and it was the visiting tribe that handled the conditions better as they moved on to district play with a 6-3 victory.
It was the home team that struck first, just over four minutes in, on a header into the net by Carson Reed but just six minutes later Valley scored to tie the game at one apiece. The two teams went scoreless for the next 29 minutes though Valley had a couple of late corner kicks that just missed their intended target. With just 1:17 left in the first half, Valley took the lead for good with a goal to make it 2-1. As the final seconds of the half ticked away, Peebles’ Waylen Lloyd got off a good shot from the right side but it bounced off the side of the net.
Early in the second half, a close scoring opportunity for Peebles quickly turned the other way as the ball moved quickly to the other end and resulted in a goal for Valley and a 3-1 advantage. At the 27:49 mark of the second half, a penalty kick goal gave the visitors a 4-1 lead. With 18:32 to play, Lloyd scored for Peebles to make it 4-2 but Valley answered less than a minute later to again extend their lead to three goals.
With 11:15 to play, Peebles’ Cauner Boatman found the back of the net to make it 5-3, but the final goal of the night belonged to Valley as they claimed a sectional championship on the road with a 6-3 triumph.
Peebles closed the season with an overall 9-8 record, 3-4 in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action, and bid farewell to seniors Keltin Robinson, Waylen Lloyd, Chris Oldfield, Kevin Gray and Cauner Boatman.