BNy STEVE CORNELIUS, CJ Sports Editor
Somerset — A bit of bad luck and an aggressive Berea offense spelled disaster for the Pulaski boys soccer team as the Maroons fell 6-3 to the Pirates in pool play in the Hyundai Challenge Pulaski Cup at Pulaski County High School on Monday night.
Berea used some precision passing to cut deep into Pulaski’s defense to get the upper hand early on as the Pirates roared out to a two-goal lead within the first 17 minutes of the game.
In the 19th minute, Pulaski’s Saleh Al-qabandi nailed a 15-yard shot with an assist from Zach Taylor to cut the Pirates’ lead to 2-1.
In the 29th minute, Berea upped their lead by two when Chase Riddle scored on a rebound shot off a blocked shot by the Pulaski defense.
As luck would have it, Pulaski’s Al-qabandi had a shot carom off the left cross bar and just missed going into the net in the 24th minute.
Four minutes later Pulaski responded when Zach Taylor scored from 12 yards out on a partially deflected shot that pulled the Maroons within one goal at 3-2.
However, Berea threatened to run away with the game in the final minutes of the opening half by scoring two unanswered goals to take a commanding 5-2 lead.
As the seconds were ticking off the clock to close out the first half, Pulaski’s Dustin Wilson broke away down the right side to slip in a 12-yarder past the Berea keeper, thus cutting the Pirates’ lead to 5-3.
In the second half, a blocked penalty kick, two missed goal attempts hitting the crossbar and two players being red carded ended any chance of a Pulaski comeback.
In the 52nd minute, Berea’s Riddle completed his hat trick when he scored at net off another rebound shot.
“We had three shots bounce off the post and a missed penalty kick,” Pulaski coach Jose Barron said. “If a couple of those fell, it would have been a different game — but they didn’t.”
“I am happy with our performance,” Barron said. “We may be a young team, but we have the desire. This is the second game of the season that we have played like this and they have proved they can play with anybody.”
Pulaski will be back in action when they square-off with Barren County on Thursday, Aug. 29 in continued pool play in the Hyundai Challenge Pulaski Cup.
