Tippecanoe Valley’s Manny Dominguez is swarmed by teammates after scoring the first goal in school history Monday afternoon against Maconaquah. The Braves rallied to beat the Vikings, 4-3, in boys soccer. (Photos by Mike Deak)

AKRON – The party had started, possibly a bit prematurely. The way Bryce Klutz saw it, he was just in time to spoil everything.

Tippecanoe Valley’s Ivan Santiago collides with Maconaquah defender Austin Adair and goalkeeper Luke Edgington.

Klutz broke away and scored a goal with 37 seconds left in the match, giving Maconaquah a 4-3 win over Tippecanoe Valley’s soccer team Monday afternoon. To make matters worse, it was the first-ever home match played at Tippecanoe Valley, and Valley held a two-goal lead in the second half of its inaugural Three Rivers Conference match.

Klutz’s goal in the final minute gave the speedy junior a hat trick, having scored the first Braves goal just seconds after Valley potted it’s historical first goal. Klutz’s second goal tied the match at three in the 63rd minute. The game winner was a product of what Maconaquah did at will in the second half – pound the middle of the field – even though Valley skipper Mark Gordon had laboriously pleaded with his team to mark the middle and play the ball away from there.

“The second half we just narrowed this field up,” Gordon said. “We didn’t play the width. Every ball seemed to come right up to a defender stuck in the middle. And what did (Maconaquah) do? They just played a nice game of kickball up the middle to their big boy (Ethan Larason) the whole half and they just kept hitting him. Other than that, I’m pretty pleased. We just gave up a couple goals at inopportune times.”

Valley’s historical moment came in the 24th minute of the match. Ivan Santiago found space in a porous Maconaquah midfield and worked the ball to Manny Dominguez, who had pinched into the middle of the pitch from his normal left wing. Dominguez took a touch on the ball, spaced himself far enough from his defender at the top of the 18, and sent a left-footed dagger into the corner of the netting. The goal was the first for the program in its inaugural season of IHSAA soccer, and Dominguez was proud to have his name be entered into the record books.

Tippecanoe Valley’s Alex Aguilar moves past Maconaquah’s Omar Gonzales.

“First I moved the ball to the side, to get the defender out of the way, then I was thinking kick it,” said Dominguez, who is a sophomore. “It feels amazing to be the first athlete to score in the history of TVHS.”

Klutz buried his first goal less than a minute later, but Valley responded a minute after that, scoring its second goal when Santiago found some space and hammered home a goal into the right corner. Alan Jimenez got into the act in the 33rd minute when his shot wasn’t true, but wobbled its way into the side netting, giving Valley a stunning 3-1 lead.

Larason pulled the Braves within one with an easy goal in the 52nd, leaving Klutz to cap the scoring for the visitors.

After not getting a shot on target in its first match against NorthWood, the Vikings uncorked 22 shots on Maconaquah, 19 saved by Luke Edgington, who came up big in the final five minutes on a pair of close range shots by Valley that were turned away.

Fabian Mar played admirably in net for Valley, making 14 saves before leaving the game in the second half after a nasty collision. Zach Landis made one save but was left on an island on Klutz’s deciding goal.

“One of the first things we see with a team like us is that we scored,” Gordon said. “We want that hunger factor. We have several kids that can score that haven’t yet. That first game we didn’t get anything. We missed a PK in the scrimmage. I kept telling them, ‘Take the shot. Don’t be afraid to take the shot.’ Get comfortable in your own cleats. I think a couple of them did.”

Tippecanoe Valley (0-2) will turn around for a home match Tuesday against Wabash.

Tippecanoe Valley’s Tom Solano goes airborne while challenging Maconaquah’s Austin Adair for the ball Monday night.