Submitted photo The Elkins Middle School boys defeated Buckhannon-Upshur, 4-2, in the third-place game of the Mid-Mountain tourney recently held in Bridgeport.

ELKINS — The sixth-seeded Elkins Middle School boys soccer team advanced to the third-place game in the Mid-Mountain Athletic Conference tournament recently held at Wayne Jamison Field, defeating fourth-seed Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School, 4-2.

The Hornets beat third-seed Taylor County then lost to No. 2 Mountaineer Middle in the third-place game.

Derek Bailey scored off of a through ball from Amari Lonon to put Elkins on the board less than 1 minute into the match.

Lonon then found the back of the net 6 minutes later.

The Little Bucs then scored two goals late in the first half.

With 16 minutes to go in the game, Dyer Barger scored off of a free kick. Barger again found the back of the net off of another free kick with less than 8 minutes remaining.

“This was a very physical, hard-fought game. I couldn’t be more proud of these boys, every player did their part,” EMS coach Ariel Valentine said. “Just to name a few, Tristan Whited, Major Chewning and Dyer Barger stepped to everything in the midfield, the defensive line, lead by Riker Chewning, hardly let anything through. Elliot Arbogast had a strong showing in the goal. I was impressed with individual growth but mostly the players growth as a team; we saw leadership, desire and great effort.”

The Hornets ended their season 7-6-2 (conference record 5-6-2).

“I look forward to watching these players and this team continue to develop,” Valentine added.