Bouncing back from a disappointing midweek showing, Franklin men's soccer had things rolling in the right direction when
Russell Bilohlavek found the back of the net to tie Saturday afternoon's HCAC opener against Hanover at 1-1.
From that point, though, the Panthers had the the better of the affair, pulling away for a 5-1 conference win at Faught Stadium.
"For 50 or 55 minutes, we were in a good college soccer match," Griz coach
Josh Hughes said.
Franklin (0-7-2) held off an early Panther burst and gradually found its footing as the first half progressed, but it was Hanover that drew first blood, taking the lead with just under four minutes to go in the first half. The Grizzlies had a chance at the tying goal just before the intermission but were turned away.
After halftime, though, the home side quickly drew even. Bilohlavek collected a pass from
Tripp O'Brien and lasered home a shot from the right side to tie it less than a minute in. Franklin had a chance to take the lead just seconds later, but a
Johnny Garcia effort was saved by the Panthers to keep it tied.Â
Hanover took the lead on a rebound goal with 35:49 left in the match, and the wheels started to loosen on the Griz wagon when the Panthers were awarded — and converted — a penalty kick to make it a 3-1 game with 17:34 to go. Hanover then tacked on two more goals as time wound down.
The Grizzlies totaled six shots on the day, with four of them on frame.
Austin White made eight saves in the loss for the Grizzlies, four in each half.
Franklin wraps up a five-game homestand on Wednesday evening (7 p.m.) against Anderson.
