MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Boyd Buchanan and Lausanne have a history that goes back almost six years. They have met in the state tournament many times. The most recent of these meetings being the state final last year where Lausanne got the best of the Bucs. On Wednesday they met again at the Spring Fling at Murfreesboro's Siegel Soccer Complex. This time it was personal and Boyd Buchanan made it personal for the Chattanooga-area with a 2-0 win and a championship match face-off with cross-town rival Notre Dame.
The Bucs and the Irish will meet at 4:00 p.m. CDT on Thursday for all the DII-A marbles.
As history has shown, Lausanne wouldn’t make it easy for their opponents. In fact, the Lynx would start with the better attacking prowess which led to several strong chances in the box. Unfortunately, there was no result to come from any of them, leaving this to be anyone’s game.
After a majority of the first half went by with nothing to show for either team, Boyd Buchanan would get the only goal they would need. The Bucs' Fiston Mungisha would find the over-the-top ball from Andrew Pollard from midfield. He would take it under control and smash it past the keeper with only six minutes remaining in the half. Boyd took the momentum back and held it to halftime with a lead of 1-0.
The second half played out a lot like the first. These teams would go back and forth on the attack. The Lynx found an attack after moving Ryan Ruguaru from center back to attacking mid. This would get them close on several attempts, but just shy off getting the tying goal. Boyd would come in again with only fourteen minutes remaining and put in their second. This goal would be scored by none other than Mungisha again. He had himself a great day. This time a dribble past the outside back to put the ball across the keeper’s body and in.
The two-goal scoring forward spoke about the game for him and his team. He talked about what the moment meant for them and how it feels to be where they are, saying, “Starting yesterday I began thinking I am going to have two goals and try to help the team score. I remember they beat us last year. Everything was personal today. So I just go in and go for advantage and make sure we win. It means a lot to us right now. Like I said they beat us last year. This year was revenge time for sure.”
Bucs head coach Dustin Walkin also spoke about the win and the performance from his boys, especially Mungisha, “If we are going to do anything we have to come through Lausanne. It has been like that for the past five or six years. Us and Lausanne have created just a great rivalry. We know what kind of team they are and the type of players they have. Something to be said of this team is they have always walked on the field confident this year. They have always trusted each other and trusted themselves."
The Bucs coach continued, "We have had teams believe, but we have learned lessons from past games. I can’t really single out anybody. Obviously Fiston with the two goals. He was late to warmups this morning. He said, “sorry coach, I’ll get two goals to make up for it’. Of course he was amazing. All the guys across the board were just fantastic. We thank the Lord every time we are together for another day with each other."
"I don’t want to have an interview without saying that the Lord has given us one more day.," he concluded, "And His kindness has given us one more day. So, we are thankful for that.”
Game Summary
Lausanne 0 0 -- 0
Boyd Buchanan 1 1 -- 2
Goal Scorers:
Boyd Buchanan- Fiston Mungisha 2.
Assists:
Boyd Buchanan- Andrew Pollard
(Contact Alex McElyea at alexmcelyea26@gmail.com)