Anthony Ethridge returned to the Trigg County boys’ soccer lineup in style with a pair of goals on Saturday, helping the Wildcats slip past visiting Muhlenberg County 2-1. Trigg County wins its second-straight after dropping the season opener, while the Mustangs fail to make it two victories in a row and slip to 1-3 overall.
After being plagued by slow starts in their first two matches, the Wildcats started well on Saturday, but nonetheless found themselves trailing after Camden Newman’s looping shot slipped through Trigg goalkeeper Nik Kaster’s hands for the opening goal.
However, the Wildcats struck right back when Keller Nichols took the ensuing kickoff downfield and found Ethridge behind the Muhlenberg defense. Ethridge made no mistake from close range, and Trigg was back even less than a minute after going behind.
The game was knotted 1-1 at the half, and neither team could find the breakthrough until Nichols again played provider for Ethridge to score with sixteen minutes left to play.
Trigg County thought it had the insurance goal when Nichols tapped in from inside the 6-yard box with only minutes remaining, but the goal was wiped off for a foul. The Wildcats survived a couple of scares in the dying moments and held on for the narrow victory.
Joseph Crawford got the win in goal for Trigg after relieving Kaster, making four saves to keep the Mustangs at bay. The Wildcats had 10 shots on goal, led by Ethridge’s four attempts.
Trigg County will hit the road on Monday for a boy/girl doubleheader with St. Mary, before a big matchup with UHA on Tuesday.
