Harrodsburg — A day after receiving a Top-25 ranking in the KHSAA coaches poll, the Southwestern Warriors boy's soccer team faced off against Mercer County Tuesday evening and came away with their 12th win of the season by beating the homestanding Titans 2-1.

After sluggish starts in their last two contests, the Warriors went on the offensive from the opening kickoff and out shot the Titans 19 to 8.

Southwestern set the tone and spent the first seven minutes of the contest in the Titans' backyard pressuring their defense and spreading the field. Warriors Florian Klett and Niklas Nielsen had a pair of shots off some great passes and Jeremy Nissen nearly netted a goal off a Josh Daulton corner kick but some great play by Titan keeper Koji Butterbaugh kept them from getting on the scoreboard early.

In the 8th minute, Southwestern narrowly missed a scoring opportunity when Butterbaugh came out from in front of the net to field a Warrior free kick placed just inside the box. Butterbaugh fielded the ball in the air and then hit the ground after a collision with a Titan defender. The ball popped loose and Warrior striker Francisco Flores shot into the open net but was denied as Titan defender Derek Beavens streaked in from the side and kicked the ball away just in front of the goal line.

Southwestern continued to press offensively while the Warrior defense stood their ground and limited the Titan defense to only a few balls inside the 18-yard box.

In the 18th minute of the contest, Southwestern struck gold as Warrior midfielder Niklas Nielsen threaded his way through the Titan midfield and several defenders before firing a frozen rope from 20 yards out that hammered into the back of the net giving the Warriors a 1-0 advantage.

The Titans battled back and pushed the ball deep taking a couple of shots on the Warrior's goal that were easily fielded by keeper Michael Wright. Southwestern continued to dominate on offense as Warriors Niklas Nielsen, Adam Prather and Adrian Pullido all took shots at the goal and ending the first half with Southwestern out shooting Mercer County 9-3 and leading the contest 1-0.

The Warriors opened the second half of play and went straight for the goal with the opening kickoff. Senior defender Jeremy Nissen's high kickoff went the distance and dropped in close to the goal but keeper Koji Butterbaugh expertly fielded the ball and came up with the save. Mercer County came out early and pushed the ball deep into Warrior territory and had a pair of shots from Aaron Steele and Tate Spivey but the Warrior defense and keeper Michael Wright kept them out of the net and off the scoreboard. During the next several minutes, Southwestern's Chris Campbell, Eric Bird and Niklas Nielsen each had shots on the Titan goal but failed to convert as Butterbaugh came up a pair of great saves and a diving deflection.

In the 64th minute of the contest, Southwestern got their second goal of the night when junior Florian Klett fielded a nice pass from Cody Inabnitt and broke away for a 1-on-1 with the Titan keeper. Klett pushed the ball inside the goal box, faked left and then shot to the right corner for the score to put the Warriors up 2-0.

With 16 minutes remaining and desperate for a goal, the Titan offense stepped up and managed two consecutive shots on the Warrior goal. Mercer County's Kyle Chadwick smashed a long free kick deep into the Warrior box that was blocked by defender Adrian Pullido just as the Warrior keeper was attempting the field the ball. Both players hit the ground leaving an open net and a loose ball. Wright scrambled up and managed the cover just as the Titan offense reached the ball.

Less than 30 seconds later, Mercer County's Zach Bailes fired off another shot just inside the box which was deflected by Wright and cleared by the Warrior defense.

With 5 minutes remaining in the contest, a Southwestern penalty gave Mercer County a free kick from 30 yards out. Zach Bailes took the kick and put a high shot into the air that dropped into the right center of the 18-yard box. Warrior keeper Michael Wright came out from in front of the goal and attempted to field it on the bounce but the ball took an unexpected hop over his head and rolled into the goal for the score preventing Southwestern's 11th shutout of the season. Southwestern took the kickoff and kept control of the ball until time ran out coming away with a 2-1 win.

“I felt pretty fortunate to get out of here with the win tonight,” stated Warrior head Coach James Ray. “Mercer County is a quality team. They do a pretty good job defensively and they have a very strong keeper. The sweeper that was back there tonight is an excellent player.”

“We did some things well but we have to play better soccer to get ready for the post season,” Ray added. “I know I keep saying this but we have to start possessing the ball better and not booming it over the top as much. We talk about it a lot in practice but we have to start showing it on the field.”

“We've got a couple of days to get mentally ready for Saturday's game with another Top-25 team in the state. Woodford County is ranked 9th, so this is another chance for us to prove ourselves”

With the win Southwestern moves to 12-3-1 on the year and will head into 30th district play as the #1 seed.