Late Heroics Saves LCA
WINONA LAKE – Lakeland Christian Academy couldn’t find any magic for much of Friday’s contest against Victory Christian. That is, until Parker Stewart finally broke through.
Trailing 1-0 after Brian Wodetski got the visitors on the board in the 62nd minute, Stewart’s goal in the 73rd minute bailed out LCA. Mark McQuade then sent the home side victorious with the game winner three minutes later in a 2-1 comeback victory.
LCA and VC sparred without much incident in the first half. Theran McKeever had LCA’s best chance of the first half, flicking a shot off keeper Spencer Erspamer but the deflection went wide and was covered.
The Cougars, which outshot the Lions 15-4, were desperate after Wodetski’s goal, and got some magic from Stewart, who used a distribution from McKeever for the equalizer. McQuade’s winner came off a corner by Jake Harmon four minutes from time.
“I am very proud of our team’s resilience, despite controlling much of the play we found ourselves down a goal with under 10 minutes left in the game,” said LCA coach Dan Miller. “We didn’t panic, but came together to get the win. Parker had an incredible strike to put us even, and Mark McQuade showed incredible senior leadership in finishing off the corner kick for the game winning goal.”
Erspamer made 13 stops in the loss while Remington Swanson stopped three shots for the Cougars. His biggest save came late in the first half when a deflection in the penalty box forced him to go low to deflect the ball away from danger.
LCA moves to 4-1 on the season, VC falls to 3-2. LCA plays again Tuesday at Winamac.