The Franklin County High School boys soccer team lost to the Howard Tigers 3-1 on the road Tuesday in a semifinal game for the Region 3AAA tournament.
All of the scoring for the day was done after halftime as the Tigers steadily pulled away throughout the second half to bring an end to Franklin County’s season.
The teams were relatively even throughout the first half with neither being able to break through for a score.
Franklin County’s best scoring opportunity in the first half came with about 22 minutes remaining in the period as Kevin Hernandez sent a pass to Rylan Banks in the middle of the goal box, and Banks kicked a high shot toward the net, but Howard’s goalkeeper made a leaping, one-handed deflection to send the ball over the net and keep the game tied.
The score was tied at 0-0 at halftime.
The Tigers broke the tie with a goal about eight minutes into the second half, and they scored again 11 minutes later to put Franklin County in a 2-0 hole with 21 minutes remaining in the contest.
The Tigers added one more goal with 10 minutes left on the game clock to seemingly put the contest out of reach as the deficit grew to 3-0 late.
Franklin County avoided the shutout on a goal with 4:45 remaining as Hernandez found some open space at the top of the goal box and fired a shot which bounced inside of the left goalpost and rolled across the line for his 22nd score of the season.
The game then entered a lightning delay less than a minute later as thunderstorms approached the area, and the contest was not able to be resumed, sealing the two-goal loss for Franklin County.
With the loss, Franklin County ended the season with a record of 11-5.
