The JV Men's Soccer Team fought a good battle against Northern Durham tonight, putting the pressure on early. They focused on getting the defense up quickly and the ball out wide. The defensive strategy worked, pulling ten offsides calls against Northern Durham and preventing the Panthers from having to make long runs back towards their own goal. Despite the high temperatures, the Panthers played hard and with great tenacity. The team has already made great progress on winning 50/50 balls and making hard tackles, especially in the center of the field. Adding Morgan Collins as a central midfielder helped the Panthers gain control and then distribute the ball to the outside midfielders, Austin Goehring and Eli Lockwood, who each played excellent games both offensively and defensively.
The team as a whole showed much improvement--tactically with Bowen Collins and Hector Paredes moving the defensive players up quickly, defensively with Chris Lamay and RJ Jackson making solid defensive tackles, and technically with Trevor Samsa, Gerardo Figueroa, and Brandon Clark dribbling through Northern Durham players with great confidence. Despite many chances, the Panthers struggled to finish with a goal. But, as is the case with soccer, sometimes you can play a great game (take many shots, control the game) and still come out with a loss.
Brad Barbee played an excellent game, notching 11 more saves, and only allowing one goal off of a corner kick late into the second half.
The Player of the Game was newcomer Eli Lockwood (pictured right), whose speed, awareness, and aggressiveness created multiple opportunities along the right flank. Lockwood persisted on any ball that was in his zone, recovering almost all of them and then sending the ball up to a forward along the line. His hustle and determination were excellent, and the quickness of his decision-making has already vastly improved. The coaches look forward to more steadfast playing from Lockwood in future games.
The Panthers have one more game this week on Thursday against Bartlett Yancey at home at 5 pm, and they are looking for their first big win.
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