Tuesday, October 9

The Canaan Eagles and Pittsburg Panthers, much like in their first match-up this season, played to another nail-biting, down-to-the-wire finish Tuesday. And much like in the first game, the Eagles were able to hold on for a one-goal win. This game was a story of two halves, the Eagles controlling the ball throughout the opening forty, and the Panthers clawing back in the final forty. From the start, it was apparent this would be a tight match, with the winner being whichever team cashed in on an opponent's mistake.

Before the game, Canaan Coach Dan Wade stressed the importance of his defense not letting an early goal get the team down early. Much to Wade and the teams' collective delight, the Eagle offense was able to pick up its defense with an early goal off the foot of Tony Graves. A loose ball outside the goalie's box was swept up by Graves, who proceeded to maneuver his way past defenders and tuck a pretty shot into the corner of the net. The rest of half was filled with chances and missed opportunities for the Eagles, who were unable to get anything past Panther goalkeeper Marcus Chase. Midway through the first half, Graves sent a pass through the defense to Zack Daley, who had a one-on-one with Chase. As Chase began to come out of the goal, Daley fired, but his shot sailed wide right, and the score remained 1-0. Canaan would have its chances minutes later, as two corner kicks were bent perfectly in front of the goal by Tyler Brousseau, but Chase and his defenders were able to turn away both close calls to preserve the score.

The Panthers came out of the halftime break fired up, controlling the ball in the midfield and pressuring Canaan's defense and goalkeeper Jake Smith. Luke Merrill and Alec Biron led the charge, but were time and time again turned away by Smith and the Eagle's fullbacks. As the time wound down, the physical play picked up on both sides. The Panthers pushed harder to get the equalizer, while the Eagles dug deeper to preserve the lead. When the final whistle sounded, Canaan was able to exhale a sigh of relief. For Smith and his defense, lead by senior sweeper Connor Daley, it was his third shutout of the season.

The win is the third in four games for the Eagles, leveling their record at 6-6. Canaan closes the season with matches against Twinfield and UCA this week.