Due to injuries in 2019, several underclassmen were asked to step up for the Crawfordsville boys’ soccer team.
And now a year later, all that work is already starting to pay off as the Athenians opened the season with a 6-0 shutout win over Sagamore Conference foe Western Boone on Tuesday night.
Senior Kevin Barrera-Chinchilla led the Athenians with two goals, while juniors Emmett Bowman and Edwin Gil-Herrera each had a goal and an assist in the win.
“Because of the injuries we had last year, a lot of the younger kids needed to play and they earned valuable playing time in varsity level competition,” Crawfordsville coach Marcus Hale said. “We didn’t always get the results we wanted, but going through that, learning from that, and applying that when we were able to get back together this year and then obviously being in a contest we saw some great things, but also saw some things we need to work on.”
Hale said he saw his team playing for each other during the season opener, just six weeks after the first summer workout.
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the Athenians from working out together during June. Not only did Crawfordsville lose out on the opportunity to practice together and play scrimmages throughout the summer, it was an entire lost spring as well.
“To be honest it wasn’t just the summer, but it was also last spring,” Hale added. “A lot of the kids that I have would have played, whether it was Montgomery County United Soccer Club or playing with their friends, and that just didn’t happen. In June we did a lot of stuff virtually, so they were doing a lot of individual work on their own, which is important.”
Joseph Sanchez and Dirk Oshel added goals, while Marshall Horton chipped in an assist.
The Athenians (1-0) are back on the pitch at the Frankfort Invite on Saturday.
