Mullens' two goals helps Falcons to key SOC win over Pirates

WHEELERSBURG — Minford was able to pitch their fourth shutout of the season behind a superlative defensive effort, another solid performance from goalkeeper Trevor Born and an early second half scoring surge helped the Falcons to blank the Wheelersburg Pirates 4-0 in a Southern Ohio Conference showdown on Tuesday night.

That complete performance was something Falcon coach Jacob Hackworth was happy to see from his team.

"I'm super proud of how the guys came out with discipline and intensity right off of the bat. They played for each other, shared the ball, and played a complete match from start to finish with a clean sheet in the back. Coming away with a 4-0 win is showing us what we're capable of here, for sure."

Minford sophomore Colby Mullens delivered the game's first goal that wound up setting the tone for the game.

Seemingly taking on the entire, defense, Mullens let go of a shot in a one-versus-four sequence and the ball sailed into the upper far corner of the net, giving Minford a 1-0 lead with 7:57 remaining before halftime.

Mullens would deliver a back breaking goal just seconds into the second half.

The sophomore received a long pass from midfield, and again beat the defense and delivered a shot from the right side into the far corner of the net to double up the score just 18 seconds into the half.

From that point on, the field began to tilt towards the Falcons the rest of the way.

Tate Johnson would deliver on two of the huge plays - one of which turned out to be the play of the night.

After Minford sent the ball deep into Wheelersburg's end, Johnson from near the endline, perfectly executed a bicycle kick from the end line that got sent to Teagan Halterman in front of the net. Halterman was able make the finish and put the ball in goal to make it 3-0 just past the midway point of the second half.

"Tate's pulled about five or six bikes off, and that was the first one that worked," Hackworth said. "That's one of the better assists that I've ever seen in high school soccer. That was a really good play. Tate wasn't feeling good. He was throwing up on and off all day. Just pure guts and effort from that kid. He's such a good kid to have. He works hard and he's physical. That's an athletic play right there from a big kid."

Johnson would apply the final touches on the win when Zach Fankell put a shot toward Turner, but ball deflected off of Turner and found Johnson on the far side and Johnson charged towards the net with the ball put it into the back of the net for the final score of the night.

Minford 1 3 = 4

Wheelersburg 0 0 = 0

First Half

Min — Colby Mullens unassisted, 7:57.

Second Half

Min — Colby Mullens unassisted, 39:42.

Min — Teagan Halterman (Tate Johnson), 29:35.

Min — Tate Johnson (assist Turner), 14:07.