Justin Houston of Allen East fights for the ball against Roewen Sutton of Lincolnview on Monday night.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
MIDDLE POINT — Lincolnview and Allen East scored one time in each half and played to a 2-2 draw on Monday night.
It wasn’t a win and it wasn’t a loss, but both coaches felt they’d left something to be desired in the matchup between NWC teams.
“We still have some growing to do. That’s for sure,” Allen East coach Russell Bender said after the game. “I’ve seen it through experience in coaching at other schools, that if you warm up better, you play better. We’re just not there yet. We still have a lot of learning to do and a lot of growing up to do. We just have to have that leadership that’s pushing everybody else too.”
Allen East (1-5-1, 0-0-1 NWC) netted the first goal of the game with 15:38 left in the first half.
Manny Rettig dribbled the ball down the near side of the field and sent it into the center of the box, where Justin Houston was waiting for it. Houston sent a ball just past the reach of Lincolnview keeper Mason Waltmire.
Waltmire finished the night with seven saves, including a full extension layout where he knocked down a shot with his outstretched hands, preventing the Mustangs from making it a two-score game.
Waltmire’s offense rewarded his efforts by tying the game with 3:45 left in the first half on a strike from Caleb Buerher.
Lincolnview (1-6-1, 0-1-1 NWC) eventually took the lead at the 22:44 mark of the second half after Buerher and Cody Ricker made a few touch passes inside the box and Ricker found the back of the net.
The Lancers put 13 shots on goal compared to nine from Allen East.
Five minutes later, the Mustangs hit the equalizer when Garrett Jennings broke away from the defense and beat Waltmire with 17:15 left.
Bender said, following his team’s draw with Linolnview, that Allen East has plenty of talent, they’ve just had problems putting it all together so far this season.
“I believe we have a lot of talent, we’re just not showing it,” he said. “If we play to the best of our ability, we can have scoring plays like we had tonight, all night long. I’m not satisfied with the way things turned out just because I know what we have. I’ve seen the touches in practices and I’ve seen us do this in games before.”
Allen East keeper Cam Cosart finished the game with 11 saves.
Both Allen East and Lincolnview took two corner kicks, but neither team scored off its opportunities.
Allen East 2, Lincolnview 2
AE 1 1 – 2
LV 1 1 – 2
Scoring Summary
AE — Justin Houston (Manny Rettig assist) — 15:38, 1st
LV — Caleb Buerher — 3:45, 1st
LV — Cody Ricker (Caleb Buerher assist) — 22:44, 2nd
AE — Garrett Jennings — 17:15, 2nd
Shots on goal
AE 9, LV 13
Saves
AE 11, LV 7
Corner kicks
AE 2, LV 2
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
