The Avery soccer team has had a tumultuous pair of weeks on the pitch. After a week that included a win over North Henderson and a conference loss to Owen, the Vikings bounced back early last week with a 3-2 win at Thomas Jefferson Academy.
Last Wednesday Avery met its most talented foe to date, traveling to Dietz Field to play at top-ranked and defending 1A state champion Hendersonville. The Bearcats were as strong as advertised, defeating the Vikings by an 8-0 final score.
Avery appeared to show no lingering effects from the previous week’s home defeat to Owen, as the Vikings netted all three of its goals in the first 40 minutes of play.
The Vikings played the match without the services of leading scorer Daniel Lusk, who was still sporting an injured knee. Due to the loss of firepower, the Vikings adapted its offensive formation, changing to a 4-2 offense rather than the usual 3-3 formation.
Ten minutes into the match, Heraclio Flores scored off an assist by Isauro Estrada. Around 10 minutes later, Estrada got into the scoring spree, netting a goal off an assist from Javier Bravo to give the Big Red a 2-0 advantage.
“Our offense seemed to be clicking, and the defense was holding its own,” Avery head coach Tom Evaul said after the match..
Just three minutes after the second score, Forrest Sickler pealed a shot inside the woodwork, scoring off an Estrada assist to increase the Avery lead to 3-0.
Thomas Jefferson took advantage of some miscommunication and decision-making which set up a direct kick. The Gryphons scored off the kick around the 28-minute mark to cut the Viking lead at halftime to 3-1.
“The team came off the field frustrated that their level of play in the first 20 minutes of play had dropped drastically in the second 20 minutes,” Coach Evaul stated after the match. “The cohesiveness we had at North and lost against Owen was fading away quickly, and the team just didn’t respond to what the coaches were trying to get them to do in the second half. We resorted to a game of “kickie ball”…no passing, no talk, no support. It was just a second half that was atypical of what Avery had been doing earlier in the season.”
Thomas Jefferson managed to score one goal in the second half to cut the Viking lead to 3-2, but Avery regrouped and was able to hold on to secure its seventh win of the season.
Later in the week, the Vikings ventured to Hendersonville for a matchup of top ten state ranked 1A schools. The matchup proved to be a one-sided affair as Avery was again without Daniel Lusk for the contest. The team also played without Jorge Arreola for the first half, and was dealt another blow with an injury to senior defenseman Brock Yackey.
The Vikings surrendered four goals in each half, and was unable to crack the scoreboard offensively. Nevertheless, the Viking head coach was pleased that his team played hard for the entire match against a strong and talented club in Hendersonville.
“I really thought we would give Hendersonville a better game than we did, but it wasn’t to be. They are obviously a much stronger team than they were last year, with more weapons, more speed, more aggression, and are a bigger and confident team compared to last year,” Coach Evaul stated. “The score could have been much worse, as Hendersonville’s coach didn’t take out his starters until the 73rd minute mark. Here lately, their scores have been 10 goals or better against opponents. Despite the barrage and humiliation, the guys played as hard as they could to the bitter end, not giving up nor getting so frustrated that it took their heads out of the game. I was proud of their effort against an excellent Hendersonville team…I’m truly surprised they have even lost a game.”
Coach Evaul was proud of the effort of his freshman goalkeeper Alex Magner, who faced a flurry of Bearcat shots all match long, and continued to fiercely defend between the pipes for the duration of the match.
“Alex stopped over 40 shots on goal, while allowing just the eight by Hendersonville. As a freshman goalie who has only played goalie for three months to take what he had to take at Hendersonville, and still stay focused and intense throughout that game, he made the coaching staff and his teammates admire him all that much more,” Coach Evaul shared.
The Vikings continue to battle in the thick of Western Highlands Conference action this week with a home match against Polk County and a road confrontation with the Madison Patriots mid-week in Marshall.
