E.C. Glass steps closer to wrapping up the Seminole with win over LCA

The Hilltoppers took a big step toward reaching each of those bars Monday night at City Stadium when it fended off LCA, 3-1, and got revenge on the Bulldogs for that April loss.

“This one was actually a lot bigger than the guys know,” Glass coach Randy Turille said after his team wrestled away the district’s top spot from the Bulldogs.

Glass improved to 7-0 in the second half of the season (10-3-2 overall) and took a one-game lead over the Bulldogs in the district standings with one more to play. The ‘Toppers travel to Amherst on Thursday and will have a chance to clinch the regular-season.

Part of Glass’ dominance Monday was due, once again, to senior Seth Oliver, who scored twice, including the game’s opening goal in the 25th minute. Oliver now has six total goals in his team’s last three games and sports a team-high 22 on the season.

“We definitely wanted revenge from last time we played them,” Oliver said of LCA, which was shut out in the first half and scored its lone goal in the 68th minute off a penalty kick from Sam Schubert. “I think Senior Night just gave us even more motivation.”

The two Class 4 heavyweights are destined for region play. One year after losing just twice, the Bulldogs (11-3-1) feature a strong lineup even though they lost several key players to graduation off that 2017 squad.

But LCA’s defense wasn’t quite up to par Monday.

“Rough,” Schubert said. “We didn’t get in our rhythm from the start, so kind of started on our heels and dug ourselves a hole that was hard to get out of. It was tough. We battled in the second half but it wasn’t quite enough.”

Oliver’s penalty kick sailed past LCA goalie Dan Guinan (14 saves) to give Glass a 1-0 lead. Less than three minutes later, Hunter Diminick made it 2-0, where the game stood at halftime.

Glass sophomore defender Walker Cavanaugh slid in to deflect an LCA shot destined to make it 2-1 at the start of the second period.

A blistering shot from Oliver, off an assist by Will Johnson, made it 3-0 in the 65th minute.

Schubert responded with his PK goal three minutes after that.

“I think we’re definitely going to be competitive in the playoffs,” Schubert added. “We’re just gonna keep on pounding, keep on working. This sets us back a little bit, but keep working as hard as we were before. Now we’ve got a little bit of a chip on our shoulder.”

The two squads could meet in the Seminole District tournament, although that tourney won’t have much of a bearing on Class 4 squads in the district like it will for Class 3 teams. Glass and LCA could meet again in the Region 4D Tournament as well.

“We felt like we had a little bit of momentum,” Diminick said about the early minutes of Monday’s game, before Glass scored.

His goal gave Glass some breathing room.

Oliver, Diminick added, has been Glass’ motor in big games this season. Oliver scored twice in a 3-1 win over Jefferson Forest last week and added both his team’s goals in a 2-1 win at Liberty last Thursday night.

“He’s a workhorse,” Diminick said. “. … He always finds a way to come up big in big moments.”

LCA still holds a one-game lead over Glass in the region standings, which will determine seeding for that postseason tournament.

“We’ve got to finish the deal on Thursday,” Turille said of his squad’s bid for the Seminole regular-season title at Amherst later this week. “. … They played us tough the first time, so it’s not gonna be a walk in the park.”

Glass co-keeper Hurst Edson returned from a lengthy injury Monday. He had one save. LCA junior forward Min Cho, who is one of the Bulldogs leading scorers, went down with what appeared to be a head injury just before the final whistle. His status was not immediately clear after the game.

Ben Cates covers high school sports for The News & Advance. Reach him at (434) 385-5527.