LINDEN — North Montgomery boys and girls soccer were in action Saturday morning for a Sagamore Conference double-header as they hosted the Western Boone Stars. In the girls game which got underway first, the Stars were able to come away with a 5-0 win over the Chargers. In the boys game WeBo was able to finish off the SAC sweep of North Montgomery with a 7-0 win.
Stars strike quick to down Lady Chargers
In the girls game WeBo got things going quickly in the games first 10 minutes by scoring a pair of goals that immediately put the Chargers behind 2-0 early. After that initial burst, the Charger defense held their ground until in another small flurry of goals at the 15 minute-mark of the second half made the score 5-0.
“Those early goals changed the game,” Charger coach Julie Hodges said. “I still feel like our defense played great today despite giving up those five goals. Our main problem was that we couldn’t maintain possession offensively and that forced our defense to have to be on their heels for the full 80 minutes. That’s exhausting and a very hard task for any team to do.”
North Montgomery (1-3, 0-2 SAC) is still working on a new defense according to Hodges and then combine that with the young players and team that the Chargers are and Hodges knows there’s going to be some growing pains. She is still making it an emphasis to point out to her team what they are doing well to keep their spirits up.
“These are 14-16 year-old high schools and it can be hard to get them to understand that we are improving,” she said. “It comes down to telling them to continue to stay positive and work hard like they have been . We’re a team comprised of mainly freshman and sophomores out there and they’re having to adapt on the fly to what we’re teaching them. It’s very encouraging to think what could happen when we get into the ladder half of our season.”
North now shifts its focus to Tuesday where it’s time for the first county girls soccer match of the fall when the Chargers make the trip to Southmont. The Mounties have won the last two meetings in the rivalry and Hodges and her team will look to flip the script on Tuesday.
“We know the players that they have and that Jessica Hale is a talented player in her own right,” Hodges said. “It should be a fun game and our girls don’t need any extra motivation to get excited for it.”
Charger boys still see improvement in loss
North Montgomery boys are still searching for their first win of 2023 after its 7-0 loss to the Stars, but the scoreboard doesn’t quite reflect the improvement that they’re showing. In the loss North Montgomery had plenty of good shots on goal that just missed their marks. WeBo led just 2-0 at halftime but immediately found the back of the net in the first 30 seconds of the second half. Another stretch later in the game saw the Stars score their final four goals to come away with the win.
“I was very pleased with how we were able to get a lot of shot opportunities today,” Charge coach Tristain Hall said. “And it’s only a matter of time before some of those start to fall. We’re going to be working on shooting more in practice to make sure that we get those to find the back of the net.”
Despite what the scoreboard did read, Hall credited his team for staying positive and playing hard for the full 80 minutes until the clock hit zero.
“Our intensity level was there the entire game I thought,” he said. “In the past we probably would have gotten down on ourselves a little bit so I was proud of them for staying focused the entire way.”
The Chargers fall to 0-5 (0-1 SAC) with the loss and now just like the girls, will shift their focus to the rival Mounties who will come to North on Monday for a county matchup.
“These guys are fired up to play South,” Hall said of the county rivalry with the Mounties. “Even after the game today our guys were in good spirits. They want to go out there and prove that we’re going to be a team to be worried about.”
Both county soccer games this week can be heard on Thunder 103.9 WIMC with Kevin Jett and Jared McMurry having the call in both games.
