By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

MINFORD — One of the best soccer teams in Southern Ohio Conference-1 faced one of the best teams in SOC-2

It went pretty much as expected.

The St. Joseph Flyers and Minford Falcons had a titanic battle as they went back-and-forth before the Falcons scored late and rallied for a 4-3 win on Tuesday.

The loss was the first for the Flyers after opening the season with 8 straight victories,

After losing its opening game 4-3 to Lynchburg-Clay, Minford has now won 7 straight including a 3-1 win over Wheelersburg.

The Falcons jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and made it appear as though this was going to be a long night for the Flyers.

Ethan Cordle — who finished with a hat trick — scored just 59 seconds into the game off a corner kick from Ashton Reeder.

Myles Montgomery scored off a crossing pass from Peyton Caudill at the 16-minute mark and the Falcons led 2-0.

But Wesley Neal drilled home a penalty kick at the 12:54 mark to put the Flyers on the scoreboard.

Landon “Rocky” Rowe scored as Texas Jack Whaley used a crossing pass to feed his teammate for the score and the game was tied with 10:20 left in the half.

St. Joseph took the lead as Neal made his second penalty kick with 9:37 on the clock.

Minford managed to tie the game with only 15 seconds left on a penalty kick by Cordle.

The Falcons didn’t waste any time scoring the winning goal to start the second half as Cordle used a header off a direct kick to find the back of the net and make it 4-3 with 38:59 left in the game.

Minford outshot the Flyers 34-10 and had 25 shots on goal to just 7 for St. Joseph.

Flyers’ goalkeeper Beckham Waginger was up to the challenge with 21 saves. Minford goalkeeper Kade Glockner had 4 saves against the 7 shots.

The Flyers play at South Webster on Thursday and Lawrence County, Ky., on Saturday.

St. Joseph   3 0 = 3

Minford   3 1 = 4

First Half

Mn — Ethan Cordle (off corner kick from Ashton Reeder) 39:01

Mn — Myles Montgomery (assist Peyton Caudill) 16:00

SJ — Wesley Neal (penalty kick) 12:54

SJ — Landon Rowe (assist Jack Whaley) 10:20

SJ — Wesley Neal (penalty kick) 9:37

Mn — Ethan Cordle (penalty kick) 0:15

Second Half

Mn – Ethan Cordle (header off direct kick) 38:59

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Goalkeeper—St. Joseph: Beckham Waginger 21 saves; Minford: Kade Glockner 4 saves.

Total Shots—St. Joseph 10, Minford 34

Shots on Goal—St. Joseph 7, Minford 25

Corner Kicks—St. Joseph 1, Minford 11

Fouls—St. Joseph 10, Minford 9