Cyclones suffer shutout loss to Panthers

Published 9:06 am Friday, March 14, 2025

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 Star Correspondent

Despite having more shots on goal than Portland, the Elizabethton Cyclones couldn’t manage to get one of those shots past the Panthers’ hulking goalkeeper Brayden Perry on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Stadium in a 2-nil loss.

“We need to raise our intensity,” Cyclones head coach Doug Schulz said. “We are very quiet out there and had a lot of silly offside penalties. If we can clean up some of these things, we’ll be all right.”

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The Panthers scored in the 12th minute after a questionable penalty occurred in the penalty box on what seemed like incidental contact and a flop that gave Portland a penalty kick. Brayan Figueroa nailed the shot low and to Cyclones goalkeeper Tucker Taylor’s right for a 1-nil advantage.

“The PK they got that gave them the lead seemed generous,” Schulz said. “We had a lot of opportunities that didn’t pan out. I know when we were attacking on this end, we had a lot of offsides. I’m trying to get them to talk a little bit more.”

Portland was able to carry that advantage into the halftime break, with EHS (2-1-1 overall) outshooting Portland 5-4 in the half. The Cyclones had seven offside calls go against them as they seemed overeager and not able to identify where the ball was in the moment.

They also had several long passes go a bit too long when they were onside and had players seemingly frustrated.

The Cyclones opened the second half with a good scoring opportunity, with a corner kick from Connor Blevins getting to Perry, who made a clean stop despite traffic in the box. In the 46th minute, a free kick from Issac Perez from 45 yards out found its way into the penalty area, where Bryson Hill redirected the ball past Taylor to stake the Panthers to a two-goal lead.

“We dropped a man there, and he got behind us,” Schulz said. “We have some work to do. We get Morristown East tomorrow, and we’ll try to rest and hydrate and get ready for that.”

Portland 2, EHS 0

Portland 1 1 – 2
EHS 0 0 – 0

First Half
P – Figueroa (penalty kick) 12:00

Second Half
P – Hill (assist Perez) 46:00