The weather may have been cold and raw to the fans Avery High School Wednesday night, but the Avery Vikings men's soccer team kept the action red hot, as it used smothering defense and timely goals to defeat 1A #2 ranked Hendersonville 3-0.The matchup was originally scheduled to be played in Hendersonville, but poor field conditions at Dietz Field prompted the teams to relocate the match to the turf of MacDonald Stadium.
Avery struck in the very first minute of the match as a shot from Kyle Griewisch rebounded to Zack Strange, who was in perfect position to bury the shot in the back of the net to spot Avery a 1-0 advantage. The two teams jockeyed for position throughout the remainder of the half, as the Vikings defense remained stern and keeper Morgan Bounds turned away every Bearcat shot. The game remained a 1-0 lead for the Big Red until halftime.
In the second half, Avery scored in the 60th minute off a Kyle Griewisch goal assisted by Isauro Estrada to extend the Vikings advantage to 2-0. Just over a minute later, Hendersonville was a beneficiary of a foul in the penalty box and was awarded the penalty kick. In a harbinger of the remainder of the night, the penalty shot ricocheted off the post and the Bearcats were again denied.
"I definitely think that penalty shot miss was a momentum builder for us," Avery head coach Tom Evaul said after the match. "I think they would have gotten the momentum they needed."
Instead of a one-goal margin, Avery held its 2-0 lead and added a third goal in the 67th minute when Jorge Arreola assisted on a second goal by Griewisch to close the scoring in the 3-0 triumph.
Playing without the services of senior defensive stopper Daniel Huff, who underwent knee surgery earlier on Wednesday, the Vikings defense rose to the challenge and blanked the talented Bearcats club.
"I'm really pleased with the defense. Brock (Yackey) has stepped up, Heraclio (Flores), and Cody (Shadoin) have all stepped up and played well of late. We have had to play a lot of the season without Daniel, and we have put in a number of players like Daniel Lusk and Forrest Sickler at stopper who keep us strong on defense," Coach Evaul added. "Morgan had another great game in goal. We did have several shanks and balls that we couldn't clear, yet we still kept them out of goal which says a lot about the players."
Avery's record improves to 10-5-2, and will next return to action on Monday evening at home against the Polk Wolverines, who won 2-1 over Mitchell in a 40-minute match played at MacDonald Stadium immediately following the Avery/Hendersonville match.
Congratulations to the Avery men's soccer team on a great victory!
