HOWARD — It was more growing pains for the East Knox Bulldogs, who put up an early fight Thursday evening, before falling to the visiting Loudonville Redbirds, 5-1, in Mid-Buckeye Conference soccer action.
“That was probably the toughest team we have come up against, so far,” said East Knox coach Geoff Green. “They moved the ball around very well. We hung in there for, probably, 20 minutes in the first half and then they started scoring on us. We have to work more on that kind of play that they were doing to move the ball around. We tend to chase too much rather than playing smarter.”
Goals by Nelson Bandy, Mitch Hilenski, Kirklan Ring and Ben Reinthal gave the Redbirds a 4-0 lead by halftime.
“We are on a little bit of a roll right now,” said Loudonville coach Glen Ring, whose Redbirds have now won three straight. “Guys are starting to put it together. We’ve worked a lot on possession, controlling the ball and controlling the game. It’s starting to pay off for us and you could see that tonight.”
The Redbirds were able to dominate the Bulldogs’ midfield, something which has been the most solid part of East Knox’s game all year.
“(Loudonville) was controlling most of the midfield and that’s where most of the game is played,” said Green. “They were in possession of most of it.”
