Leading 3-2 going into halftime, the Dragons scored four unanswered goals in the second half – all by senior Caleb Lindell, to earn a 7-2 victory.

Lindell scored five total in the game and now has 46 on the season, one shy of tying the single-season program mark established by Troy Burns in 2009.

“If I’m being honest, it’s in the back of my mind,” he said. “I mean obviously getting the win is the most important thing, but yeah, it’s there.”

The Dragons (12-6) scored two goals in the first 3:39 of the contest, and it looked as if the rout might be on early.

Warren senior Ryon Flatt controls the ball as a Meadville defender approaches during the first half of Monday’s game at War Memorial Field.

Zane Anderson got the first marker off a feed from Ryon Flatt 51 second into the game, and less than three minutes later, Tyler Gustafson took a Parks Ordiway pass, beat his defender and fired it in the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs settled in, however, and got on the board courtesy of Logan Gregor in the 19th minute.

Moments after Lindell had a chance deflect off Meadville keeper Mark Conrad, he finished with 11:01 to go in the half.

That 3-1 lead looked as if it would hold going in the second half, but a misplay by the Dragons allowed Gregor a clean shot on goal, and he converted with 18 seconds left in the half.

“In the first half, we couldn’t quite get to where we needed to be, “said Warren coach Denny Flatt. “In the second half we made some adjustments. We started going wide, finding space.”

The late goal also served as a source of motivation for the Dragon defenders.

“I think it definitely made us play harder,” said senior Damon Navaroli, one of the leaders of that unit, along with fellow senior Tyler Gustafson.

Indeed, that group of Navaroli, Gustafson, Jack Darling and keeper Ian Darling were fantastic in the second half, as the two teams played nearly 27 minutes without a goal.

Then, the floodgates open.

First, it was Lindell playing a pass from Wes Kiehl with 13:04 remaining to give the Dragons some breathing room at 4-2.

They were far from done, however.

It was part of stretch of four goals in 11 minutes from Lindell, with assists coming from Anderson and Sean Duckett.

“Our passing was good,” noted Flatt. “It’s frustrating to be dominating a team and only be up one, but we were able to break it open.”

For the seniors, it was one last memory at home in a career full of them.

“I remember beating Fort LeBoeuf like 5 or 6-0 freshman year, that was pretty special,” Ryon Flatt said.

And it went by fast.

“It flew right by,” Gustafson said.

Added Navaroli. “We’ve been playing together for four years, and then all of a sudden it’s just gone.”

But these seniors are still hoping to make some more memories before they are through, beginning with their regular season finale at General McLane, followed by the District 10 playoffs.

And they all agree that they are playing their best soccer at the right time.

“Ever since the Harbor Creek game, we’ve picked it up, and we’ve been playing great ever since,” Lindell said.

Added coach Flatt: “We’re playing with more confidence then we were before. Coach Steffen Blair has been working a lot with the offensive attacks and they are buying into the system. That confidence just continues to grow.”

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JV

WARREN 1, MEADVILLE 1

J.T. Blum scored on an assist from Parks Ordiway as the Dragons and Bulldogs battled to a 1-1 tie.

“This was one of our best games of the season,” said coach Chris Darling. “We had very nice ball movement. Mark Lynds played great, Ricky Madril was great also.”

Meadville scored with ten minutes remaining to even the score.

Alex Nebinski and Alex Ferry shared goalkeeping duties.

“This was a great way to finish our home season,” Darling said. “We were able to win a lot of the 50-50 balls. I thought Ethan Best played very well.”

The Dragons wrap up their season Saturday against GM.

“The players have really developed nicely this season,” Darling added. “We’ve laid a nice foundation as many of them move up to the varsity level.”