|
When you can build a three-goal lead before halftime, it makes the second half much easier.
St. Stephens did just that, and held Newton-Conover scoreless in the first half en route to a 4-1 boys' soccer win Monday at Gurley Stadium.
The Indians (6-3-0 Catawba Valley Athletic Conference) jumped on the Red Devils early, with Ben Watson finding the net unassisted 10 minutes into the match. They scored again with 11 minutes to go after Trey Lewis found the net off a direct kick from Jackson Pitofsky, then made it 3-0 with 2:15 left when Mitchell Cole put the ball in after it deflected off Newton-Conover's keeper. "The guys did what we asked them to do," St. Stephens head coach Chuck Davis said. "We did a good job of keeping the ball in front of us. The guys did a good job." One thing Davis, the girls' coach who took over the boys' program after Chris Rittle departed in the spring, said he preaches to his team is hustle, hustle, hustle. But with a 3-0 lead at halftime, he changed his tune. "I told them, 'Guys, don't get into such a hurry,'" Davis said. "You're leading 3-0, why speed things up? I said, 'Guys, settle down. You don't have to sprint to everything.'" While that may seem odd, it worked. Playing defensively for most of the second half, the Indians held the Red Devils (2-5-0 CVAC) to only one goal, with one being called back on an offsides call. "It's just one of those games where we didn't come out ready to play," Newton-Conover head coach Angelo Palozzi said. "(St. Stephens) kept pushing all their attackers against us." The Red Devils got on the scoreboard with 20 minutes to play when John Reid found Tor Khang on a header pass for the score, cutting the Indians' lead to 3-1. Only up by two goals, St. Stephens once again went on the attack. Crowding the net, Pitofsky put one in off a rebound inside the box with just over 12 minutes left to seal the deal. "When you're only up by one, two goals, you still have to attack," Davis said. "Once you get to a three-, four-goal lead, you can back off a little bit." The Indians, who were coming off a 1-0 loss to West Caldwell, were poised to get back into the win column in Monday's match. "The guys came out. They were anxious to get back on the field and redeem themselves," Davis said. As for Newton-Conover, Monday's match was the first of three straight this week, and the Red Devils also play three in four days next week. Today they host Bunker Hill in a make-up from an earlier rainout, and then they're at Bunker Hill on Wednesday. Both matches are at 6 p.m. The Indians' host their arch rival Hickory on Wednesday at 7 p.m. |
