In the squad’s first match of the week, the Vikings had a measure of revenge on its mind, as the team remembered a loss from a season ago that knocked Avery out of third place in conference in 2009. The Vikings were determined to not let history repeat itself this time around.
“Our situation with Heritage dates back to when our juniors and sophomores played in the recreation league and middle school. It was an intense rivalry back then, and has carried through to the high school. Heritage lost their head coach to Watauga, and any time there is a coaching change teams struggle to find their chemistry,” Avery head coach Tom Evaul said after the win. “I believe that is what happened to them this year, because they still had many of their good players.”
Avery netted its goal from Isauro Estrada off a cross from Jorge Arreola to put the Vikings ahead by a 1-0 margin. Later in the half, Estrada scored unassisted on a free kick that was perfectly placed over the head of the Cougar keeper to double Avery’s margin to 2-0.
Not to be outdone, Avery’s leading scorer senior Daniel Lusk got into the act with a pair of goals, as he scored off a through pass from Estrada, then scored a second tally off an assist by Arreola on a through pass that forced a one-on-one with the goalie, an unenviable position for any goalkeeper in the Western Highlands Conference this season.
Heritage scored on a free kick that sailed just over the hands of Viking keeper Alex Magner which provided the final margin of the contest.
Avery out-shot the Cougars 30-4 for the match as the Viking defense stifled the Mountain Heritage offense throughout the contest.
“The guys played a really great game with their passing, winning the ball, intensity and aggression. It's almost like everything we had practiced so hard at getting them to do in games finally came together for a complete 80 minutes, even more so than with the 2-4 loss to Hendersonville. The subs that went in continued with that style of game,” Evaul said.
“The seniors have really developed well this season, and I believe the last few games have proven that. With each game as the season end approached, these guys pushed themselves harder and improved tremendously,” Evaul said of the group.
“Daniel's scoring threat has caused havoc with defenses, especially the second time around in the conference. He finished the regular season with a total of 26 goals and 19 assists, and has proven to not only be a scoring threat because of his speed, but also dishes out the ball pretty good for others to score.
“These last three games, Forrest has been like the sleeping giant who has suddenly come alive, and has made a great impact in the midfield. The coaching staff has tried all season to get him to up his game, and now, just in time for playoffs, it appears he has. We hope he will carry this intensity into the playoffs and be a force to reckon with in the middle,” he said.
“Zack is probably our most improved player coming back from last year's group of players and has taken on the responsibility of playing his outside midfield effectively on both the offensive and defensive side of the field. His passing and touches are a difference between night and day from not only last season, but the beginning of this season.
“Javier has remained a constant threat on offense, plus we have given him an added responsibility of switching with Heraclio [Flores] on defense every now and then, giving us another offensive threat without losing anything on defense. His passing has gotten much better and more versatile,” he continued.
“For someone who has never played soccer before, Casey’s senior night was phenomenal. Nothing got by him, and the usual shanks, missed headers, touches and passes that come with first-year players disappeared against Mitchell. He was right on target and accurate with everything he did. It’s a shame he's a senior.
“Last but not least is Brock, our defensive leader and soul of the team. Without taking away anything from anybody else on the team, Brock is the anchor of the team. When he has a bad game, or is not on the field, we struggle. He has had a fantastic senior year, and he will be sorely missed next year,” Evaul concluded.
As for the game itself, the Vikings started sluggishly but eventually came to life. In the 28th minute Estrada scored the first goal with an assist from Sickler to give the Big Red a 1-0 advantage. Four minutes later, Sickler scored himself off an assist from Flores to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead which held up until halftime.
During intermission Avery High School honored the NCHSAA 1A state runner-up Avery Lady Vikings soccer team.
“We did come out a little flat due to the emotions raging with the final home game of the season, but they eventually came alive and never looked back,” Evaul said.
“Halftime was pretty much left up to the players to talk over the first half and how to approach the second. They realized that against Mitchell the first time we had a 3-0 lead at half and they shut us down and scored in the second half. The team didn’t want to repeat that scenario on Senior Night, and that was all the motivation they needed.”
Five different players scored goals for the Vikings, who improved to 14-6-2 for the season.
“We started this season with the goal of finishing better than we finished last year and that each player would improve as the season progressed. I feel that the players have improved, as well as our record,” Evaul said of this year’s squad. “We didn’t finish higher in the WHC which was one of our goals, but maybe we can make that up in the playoffs. This team is ready for the playoffs. We have worked hard in practice especially towards the end of regular season to get to the playoffs and do better than last year, and these guys have learned the difference between coming out ready to play hard and coming out slow. Hopefully the lesson will stick and they will come out ready to play hard in as many games as we can play in.”
Avery qualified for the NCHSAA 1A state playoffs as a wild card and traveled to Hayesville on Tuesday, November 2, to play the Hayesville Yellow Jackets, who finished as the No. 2 seed out of the Smoky Mountain Conference with a 10-3 overall record.
In that matchup, Hayesville struck first, taking advantage of a foul in the penalty area to convert a penalty kick for an early 1-0 lead.
From that point, it was all Avery, as the Vikings scored next five unanswered goals to take a 5-1 win. Lusk tallied four goals in the win, with a goal from Estrada.
With the win, Avery’s first playoff victory in at least a dozen years, the Vikings move on to the second round, where it travels Saturday, November 6, to Hendersonville to take on the top-ranked Bearcats. Hendersonville defeated Monroe 8-0 in round one, and has defeated Avery twice this season in conference play.
A full recap of Avery’s playoff run can be found in next week’s The Avery Journal-Times or can be found online by clicking to: www.ajtsports.blogspot.com
