The South Knox Spartans had to be patient earlier today in their conference clash with Shoals. Eventually, patience paid off. After a scoreless first half in which the Spartans repeatedly knocked on the door, South Knox broke through early in the second half and added two more goals late to pull away for a 3-0 victory over the Jug Rox. The Spartans controlled much of the possession in the opening half but couldn’t find the finishing touch against a determined Shoals defense and goalkeeper. Kane Simmons nearly got things started less than five minutes in when he sent a cross toward Boone Foster, who narrowly missed the mark. Jakob Graman then tested the Jug Rox keeper from distance in the 13th minute, but the shot was turned away. Blake Sutton followed with a low drive a few minutes later that required another quality save. South Knox came even closer with 15:40 remaining in the half when Joseph Ellerman sent a long free kick into the box, where Tucker Mahan got his head on it, but the Shoals keeper was in the right place at the right time yet again. Sutton nearly broke through on his own with 12:25 left, making a terrific turn inside the defense before his shot slipped just wide of the post, leaving the two teams heading into the half deadlocked at 0-0. The Spartans finally broke through in the 53rd minute as Mahan's cross from the left found Loudermilk lurking in the box, and his finish handed the visitors a 1-0 lead. With 12 minutes remaining, Graman's pass fell to Loudermilk, who slotted his shot into the back of the net for his second goal of the game and a 2-0 South Knox advantage. Loudermilk completed his hat trick with 2:43 left on the clock, this time running onto a perfectly placed through ball from Reece Yoder and slipping the ball past the keeper to put the game away. While the offense eventually found its rhythm, the Spartans also got another strong performance between the pipes from Mac Harmon, who finished with five saves to preserve the shutout. Coach's comments: "Shoals played hard and made us work for it. They defended well and their keeper made some good saves in the first half. We had some chances and just couldn’t finish them, but I liked the way we stayed patient and kept attacking instead of getting frustrated. Once we got that first goal, things opened up for us, and Levi did a great job finishing those chances and completing his hat trick. Overall, it was a good road win and another step forward for us." South Knox improves to 5-1-2 on the season (3-1 in Blue Chip) and returns to action this Saturday with a road trip to Bloomfield, looking to keep the momentum rolling against the Cardinals with a 12:45pm kickoff.