SPENCERVILLE – Tuesday night’s Spencerville boys soccer 5-0 victory over Temple Christian broke the school record for wins in a season and established a new record at 10, one more than last seasons 9-6-3 mark.
Spencerville started the scoring with 29:59 remaining in the first half as a pass from Emerson Layman bounced across the Memorial Field turf and to the waiting Will Gallaspie who outraced a pair of Pioneer defenders and blasted his 21st goal of the season into the net to put the Bearcats on top 1-0.
Celebrating senior night before the contest the Bearcats lone honoree Joel Van Gorder pushed across the teams second goal with 17:11 before the half to give his squad a 2-0 advantage.
Entering play with 10 goals on the season, Emerson Layman put on a goal scoring show in the second half for Spencerville as he added a trio of markers to his tally for his first career hat trick.
Joel Van Gorder’s corner kick with 26:10 remaining sailed to Layman perfectly to set up a shot into the back of the net past Temple keeper Cody Motter to push the Bearcats ahead 3-0.
“It’s so great to see Joel get a goal and an assist on his senior night” said Spencerville coach Josh Van Gorder after the contest about his lone senior.
For his second goal of the game Layman found himself able to redirect a shot from teammate Beau Miller while laying flat on his back and utilizing a bicycle type kick to give his team a 4-0 lead with 13:13 to go.
Spencerville’s junior forward finished off the scoring moments later with 10:43 left as he nearly replicated the same move to send a racer to the bottom left corner of the goal for his 13th goal of the year and the final in a 5-0 Bearcat victory.
With their regular season complete at 1-13, Temple Christian will begin their playoff run on October 20th, at 5:00 P.M. when they travel across town to battle Lima Central Catholic.
Tournament play begins on the same day for Spencerville (10-5) as they play host to New Knoxville.
“Our team rallied for these last two games heading into the tournament so it’s good to have some wins. We have plenty to work on from yesterday and tonight. When Will Gallaspie tweaked his ankle Emerson really took over to earn his first varsity hat trick. I’ve always appreciated how BJ McPheron coaches his boys at Temple. I’ve learned a lot from him over the years, he’s got a group of solid players and young men” spoke Van Gorder postgame.
Goals:
29:59 – Will Gallaspie (SV)
17:11 – Joel Van Gorder (SV)
26:10 – Emerson Layman (SV)
13:13 – Emerson Layman (SV)
10:43 – Emerson Layman (SV)