FAIRBORN — It’s been said that the best offense is a good defense. The Tippecanoe Red Devils didn’t hear that on Aug. 30.
Tippecanoe’s ‘best offense’ controlled Thursday’s contest almost from the start for a convincing 7-0 win over the host Fairborn Skyhawks.
The now 3-0 Red Devils have yet to be scored upon this season.
“That’s always a good sign when you record three shutouts like that,” Red Devils coach Scott Downing said. “Coming from a team that graduated most of its defense and midfield last year, especially with beating team’s like Northmont — Division I schools like that — we’ve done relatively well.”
Tippecanoe opened the season with a 5-0 blanking of Xenia. They then knocked off Northmont 3-0 last week, before tonight’s win.
Sophomore forward Andrew Baileys recorded a hat trick for the Red Devils, scoring the last two goals of the first half for a 4-0 lead at the break, then the first goal of the second half.
Devils teammates Michael Pfister, Jake Rowland, Blake Heeley and Corey Abney also added goals in the Tippecanoe win.
Tippecanoe’s persistent offensive pressure created 14 corner kick opportunities against Fairborn.
Fairborn freshman Logan Snyder made his debut in goal for the Skyhawks, but he wasn’t the reason for this loss. With the kind of constant offensive pressure the Devils had throughout the contest, keeping the nets clear would’ve been a tough task for anyone.
Skyhawks coach Greg Dierker said that while he liked Snyder’s aggressiveness in goal, the experience and knowledge will come along eventually.
“That was the first game that he started for us, and I liked his aggression, it usually pays off,” Dierker said. “But a couple times, he might have come out too far and the ball got flicked over him for a score. The first goal was just unlucky. The second one, he came out and tried to defend, but the ball got pushed to the middle and he wasn’t able to get back in time.
“All in all, I like it when he’s aggressive like that. This time, especially on that second score, he might’ve been a little over aggressive. But he’ll learn. He did fine for us tonight.”
For Tippecanoe, senior Jake Weimer kept the Skyhawks scoreless in the first half; junior Adam Trimbach kept the shutout intact in the second half.
Fairborn’s Joe Nickel entered the contest ranked fifth in the entire GWOC in scoring with five goals and one assist. Downing said his Red Devils were well aware of that in Thursday’s contest, and they did their best to double and sometimes triple team the tall senior Skyhawk.
Fairborn, now 1-3 overall, 0-3 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference’s American South) returns to the pitch at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4 for a home contest against Sidney.
Tippecanoe has less of a break. They head to Cincinnati for a 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 1 contest against Indian Hill.
