Senior Sam Harding buried an equalizer with 40 seconds remaining Thursday, Aug. 20, to rescue a 1-1 draw for the Turpin Spartans against the Kings Knights in an Eastern Cincinnati Conference match at Spartan Stadium.

Turpin trailed 1-0 in the final minute before Harding, a defender/midfielder wearing No. 10, found the back of the net to level the score and salvage a point for the Spartans.

It was that close.

The Turpin Spartans athletics account wrote on X after the match that it was "a hard fought match by both teams to the very end."

The result moves Turpin to 1-0-1 on the young season after the Spartans opened Aug. 14 with a 7-0 rout of Batavia on the program's new turf surface at Spartan Stadium. The Kings match marked Turpin's first ECC test of 2026-27, and the cross-county conference matchup went down to the wire.

Turpin's JV squad had set the tone earlier in the evening, blanking Kings 2-0 in the preliminary match before the varsity kicked off at 7 p.m.

What's next

The Spartans host Archbishop McNicholas on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 4 p.m. at Spartan Stadium, then return to ECC play Thursday, Aug. 27, against Walnut Hills with a 7 p.m. kickoff at home.