Titans soccer send off seniors with win over Marion County

Arpan Dixit
Herald Staff
sports@harrodsburgherald.com

It was a good night for three Mercer County seniors as they were celebrated and earned the win over the Marion County Knights, beating them 4-0.

Brandon Ballard, Trey Releford and Austin Bartley have been a huge part of the Titans’ success in soccer over the last few years and Head Coach Garrett Stark knows those three seniors will be missed.

“We have three seniors this year, which was a lower number than we had last year,” said Stark. “But these guys have really stepped up and been leaders this year on and off the field.”

Junior goalie for the Titans, Jacob Cruz, earned a clean sheet in the win today. Stark said that was his team’s focus going in to the game.

“I mean the goal was to get the shutout tonight,” he said. “We wanted to do that in our last game, but gave up on goal. I thought our communication was good on defense, and I thought we stayed connected as well.”

It was a great senior day for Ballard, scoring two goals. The first goal was in the first five minutes, and his last goal came in the last five minutes. Junior Andrew Turpin also got in on the action, scoring a goal off an assist from Ballard to make it 2-0 Titans, just 10 minutes in.  The Knights struggled to get in  a rhythm, mainly because of Mercer’s stifling back line.

Bartley, along with juniors Kola Raskins and Johnny Johnston played a great game and were able to clear out any balls coming into their third of the field.

The Titans have a shot to go deep in postseason play if those three are able to play to the best of their ability.  Junior Angelo Ontiveros scored the third goal of the game to make it 3-0 Titans, just before the first half whistle.  Ballard’s late goal made it 4-0, and the Titans were on their way to their ninth win of the season.

To learn more, check out this week’s issue of The Harrodsburg Herald.