The South Knox Spartans had two opponents to contend with on Saturday: Washington Catholic and the heat. In the end, they handled both. Battling through sweltering conditions on the road, South Knox broke open a scoreless match in the second half with a pair of goals and caged the Cardinals defensively to earn a hard-fought 2-0 Blue Chip Conference victory. The Spartans spent much of the opening half knocking on the door, but the Washington Catholic keeper repeatedly slammed it shut. Just five minutes in, Reece Yoder and Levi Loudermilk worked a nifty little give-and-go that ended with Yoder's shot being tipped over the bar. Loudermilk had another opportunity in the 15th minute when Tucker Mahan threaded a through ball into his path, but the Cardinals' goalie again came up with the save. With 10:46 remaining in the half, Christopher Duke nearly broke the deadlock, but his shot from distrance rattled off the crossbar. South Knox kept applying the pressure after halftime as the heat index continued to climb, with a very real possibility that the game would be suspended. The Spartans continued to push forward in search of a goal, and found the breakthrough with 17:56 left on the clock. Mahan delivered another dangerous corner, Jakob Graman backsided the ball into the path of Boone Foster, and the senior defender punched it into the net to put South Knox up 1-0. With ten minutes left the Spartans struck again as Mahan sent another corner in and Foster flicked a backheel to Yoder, who drilled a beautiful shot into the bottom-right corner to give South Knox a 2-0 advantage. Goalkeeper Mac Harmon needed to make just two saves as the Spartans kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard and secured the shutout. Coach's comments: “It was a tough day with the heat, but the guys battled through it. We created a lot of chances and finally started putting them away in the second half. I’m proud of the way everyone kept working. Boone Foster had a great game for us with a goal and assist, and Reece Yoder was all over the field making plays, with a superb finish on the second goal." The Spartans improve to 3-1-2 on the year (2-1 in Blue Chip) and return home Tuesday night as they look to keep the momentum going against Pike Central. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.