AMERICAN TOWNSHIP – A Gatorade bucket filled with water came down squarely on the back of Temple Christian’s Cameron Worsham.
Rarely did a postgame drenching feel so good.
Not only was it a muggy, 90-degree day, but Worsham’s two goals gave Temple Christian a 2-0 victory over Ottoville Monday at Temple. His two goals also broke the school scoring record.
The senior Worsham has 64 goals for his career and broke the school-career scoring record of Josh Link (63 goals). Worsham has 13 goals this year.
“It felt amazing,” Worsham said of the water bath. “There aren’t many words to describe it. It means everything (to pass Josh Link). This was the goal since beginning as a freshman. It’s amazing. I grew up watching him play and now I’m right up there with him. … He was always someone I looked up to at a small Christian school. To be in his footsteps is pretty amazing.’’
The Pioneers are 7-3. Ottoville is 7-2.
Worsham’s first goal came inside the box on a pass from Isaac Lee. His shot went just inside the left post and Ottoville goalkeeper Kaiden Trentman wasn’t able to corral it.
That came with 31:10 left in the first half.
Worsham’s record-breaking goal came on a breakaway with 12:12 to go.
Jacob Holloway gathered in a loose ball and chipped it ahead to Worsham, who was just past midfield.
Worsham flew into the offensive end with the ball and was one-one-one with the goalkeeper.
When Worsham got to the heart of the 18-yard box, he hammered it past the goalie and into the back of the net.
“When you get up there and it’s just you and the keeper and the corner of the net,” he said.
That gave the Pioneers a 2-0 lead and the record was his.
“There’s a long history of people at our school who were really, really good soccer players,” Temple coach B.J. McPheron said. “He puts his name at the top of that list. … That’s quite an accomplishment for a young man who has poured his heart into soccer since he was growing up.’’
Temple outshot the Big Green 8-5.
Ottoville had the big edge in corner kicks (12-3) and continually rolled through the box with the ball in the first half.
Each time the Temple defense turned the Big Green away, most of the time without a shot.
Leading the center of the defense were center defenders Levi Shenk, Paul Holloway and Brody Bowman.
“Levi, Brody and Paul have played together for two years, as center backs or defending midfielders,” McPheron said.
Shenk said, “We had to make sure we stayed in front of them, didn’t give them any good shots and made sure we were physical so they couldn’t push us off the ball.’’
Temple Christian goalkeeper Ethan Kramer made three saves to earn his seventh shutout of the year.
Trentman had two saves for the Big Green.
While it was a non-league match, it could have seeding implications come tournament time.
“The tournament draw (is a factor) with Ottoville coming in 7-1, with their only loss to a really good Continental team,” McPheron said. “We knew it would be a war and these type of games help you in the tournament draw. It helps you to get a higher seed and host a game, so it was a big win for us.’’
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
