WALES

Lisbon High School boys’ soccer coach Dan Sylvester said that Noah Austin needs to step up in his role on the team this season after losing 16 players from last year’s squad.

Austin answered with a hat trick that led the Greyhounds to a 4-0 Mountain Valley Conference win over Oak Hill on Saturday morning.

“He’s been here since his freshman year, he’s got the experience,” Sylvester said. “He knows that he has to step up in his role. He is patient and he has to be our spark plug and our leader out there. Today was a good day for him, he was in the right place at the right time.”

At the right time, indeed, as Austin netted two second-half goals to capitalize on the possession advantage Lisbon held throughout the game.

To open the game, Lisbon held control of the ball for the most part as both teams were feeling each other out. The Greyhounds got on the board 12 minutes in when a free kick came into the penalty box and was tipped into a crowd of Lisbon players, last of which was forward Steve Martin, who tapped in the opening goal.

Lisbon held possession for much of the game, giving Oak Hill goalkeeper Cole Whitten a workout as the Greyhounds pelted 22 shots throughout the match.

The second-biggest created opportunity was 24 minutes into the match, when Austin scored his first goal after a deflected shot by a teammate landed at his foot in the middle of the penalty box.

Just before half, Oak Hill’s Brady Bangs got loose on the right side and slid a shot across the net, narrowly missing the far post for the Raiders’ best chance of the game.

In the second half, Lisbon wasted no time at all to get Austin on the scoresheet again, as a chipped ball over the top from Martin was easily slotted home for Lisbon’s third goal.

With 10 minutes left, Austin got a through ball between two defenders from Cam Poisson that left Austin in open space, so much space that Austin let out an “Oh, yeah,” on his way to the hat trick.

As Oak Hill’s deficit grew intermittently throughout the game, the fouls began to rack up, as well as the physical play. Lisbon’s Dylan George was ejected with four minutes remaining in the game for something said to a referee.