North Montgomery hosted Covington in boys’ soccer on Monday with the game starting perfectly for the Chargers.
Inside the opening two minutes of action, the team drove the ball into Covington’s end of the field, into the Trojan box and drew a foul.
Braydon Osborne converted the ensuing penalty kick to put the hosts up 1-0, but from that point on, the Trojans took control of the contest.
“I wish we could have continued to do like that first play when we got the ball into their box quickly,” said Charger coach Tristain Hall, “But we couldn’t. We did some good things, but also have a lot to work on.”
Four minutes after the Chargers took the lead, Covington tied it on a goal by Creux Reiman and four minutes after that shot, the visitors took the lead when Reiman scored again.
The Trojans would go on to take a 6-1 lead just before halftime which started a running clock for the remainder of the game.
Covington would go on to score four more goals to trigger another rule – a 9-goal lead which meant that the game was shortened to only 20 minutes in the second half – and win by the score of 10-1.
Hall did not make excuses about the outcome, but there were four factors that hurt his team in the game with Covington.
Firstly, it was the opening game for the Chargers while the Trojans had already faced Greencastle over the previous weekend and the experience showed at times.
Secondly, North Montgomery had had very little practice time as a full squad due to weather that had blown through the area in recent days.
Thirdly, the team had changed formations this season, going from a four-player diamond (sometimes called stopper, sweeper and two backs) to a four-flat in the back – a change that can often take a year or more to master because of the totally different player movement and coverage responsibilities.
Lastly, the Chargers were without their senior goalkeeper, meaning that they played sophomore Andrew Hunsberger in the position with only six days of practice in the job.
“He was a little nervous in the first half,” Hall said about Hunsberger. “But he settled down and did a good job for us in the second. We wanted to come out early today to give him some work, but the lightning kept us off the field so he didn’t get any practice before the game.”
Other Chargers whose play stood out were defenders Sam Sheetz, Kevin Toledano and Owen Arthur who moved well and were aggressive in going after the ball.
Despite the score, Hall was pleased with the overall effort of his team, saying, “Most of them played hard – a few didn’t, but most did – but we had to do a lot of thinking during the game. We need more practice time to learn and fix things.”
The Chargers begin the year 0-1 and will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to take on Lafayette Central Catholic.
