WESTPHALIA— The Crocker Lions soccer team defeated the Belle Tigers 5-1 Monday night in the first round of the Class 1, District 5 tournament hosted by Fatima High School.
Led by sophomore forward Teddy Zeigenbein, who scored three goals and junior forward Cody Gibson, who scored a goal and added three assists, the Lions held off a determined Belle team to pick up the win and advance to the semifinals Wednesday night. They'll play second-seeded Stover at 7 p.m.
Zeigenbein opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he took a pass from Gibson and hit the net on a nearly impossible angle from the right. The duo would struck again with 12 minutes left in the first half; Crocker took that 2-0 lead into halftime.
The second half was a struggle for both teams as the game became progressively more physical. Still nursing a 2-0 lead, the Lions finally broke through with 15 minutes left in the game as Gibson finished a pass in front of the goal from fellow junior Jessie Tart. Gibson's 15th goal of the season gave Crocker a 3-0 lead.
Belle would ruin the Lions' bid for a shutout with six minutes left when Tiger Hunter Loughridge headed in a free kick to cut the lead to 3-1. The Lions immediately responded when the Zeigenbein-Gibson duo worked its magic once again to give Crocker its three-goal lead back with four minutes left. Zeigenbein's fourth hat trick of the season gives him 23 goals in just 13 games played.
Sophomore midfielder Sawyer Brown scored on a penalty kick after fellow sophomore Travis Black was fouled in the penalty area, giving the Lions the final 5-1 margin in the final two minutes.
The Lions defense was solid, led by Nick Goodrich, Sheldon Fiedler, Chris Counts, Robbie Witt, and goalkeeper Rich Heenan.
In other action on Monday, fourth-seeded Dixon held off fifth-seeded Osage 1-0. Stover defeated Cole Camp 4-0 while top seed Fatima was all over eighth-seeded Iberia in a 10-0 win.
Fatima and Dixon play Wednesday in Westphalia at 5 p.m., while Crocker and Stover kick off at 7 p.m.
