By TIM HYDEN, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
When the North Laurel Jaguars traveled to Somerset Tuesday night to take on the Briar Jumpers in boys’ soccer action, they were searching for their first win of the season, in just their second outing. Somerset, entered the contest with a 3-3 record, but was coming off a 5-0 loss to Danville, their 15th Region rivals. The Jaguars were hoping for a quick start against a team who might be flat after a tough loss. But it didn’t turn out that way, as Somerset scored two goals within the first six minutes, and cruised to a 5-0 win.
“It’s never easy when you start two goals down that early in the match,” said North Laurel Assistant Coach Gerald O’toole. “It changes your game plan and you have to play catch up for the rest of the match.”
The scoring came suddenly for Somerset when senior Frederick Williams found the net in just the third minute. The goal was more than Head Coach Brian Blankenship was expecting from Williams.
“Fred is one of our best players but he has been injured,” said Blankenship. “We had a couple other players out tonight so I had to play him, even though we would have liked to rest him another game. We were hoping just to get him some action and keep him in game shape, and then he gave us that big goal to get us started.”
It took only four minutes for Somerset to add to the lead when fellow senior Jon Claude Burlew took a corner kick in front of the net and redirected it past Jaguar goalie Nathan Carter to make it 2-0. With the game just in the sixth minute, Somerset looked to run away with it early. But even though the Briar Jumpers controlled the possession with their defense and passing, Carter kept the Jaguars alive with several saves in net.
In the 12th minute Carter made a nice save on another opportunity from Williams, but the ball caromed away, and a rebound kick clanked squarely off the crossbar. Then the Jumpers’ Kyle Clark moved in for a goal but was stonewalled by Carter once again. The sophomore goalie would eventually tally 16 saves in the match. Somerset threatened again in the 19th minute with a beautiful lead pass from Colby Hall to Austin Adams, but the junior midfielder kicked it just wide of the net. Then in the 27th minute, Dakota Brown had a breakaway for Somerset down the right sideline and seemed to have a clear path to the net until the Jaguars' Zach Miller broke up the play with sheer hustle to cut off Brown’s angle.
Somerset also missed several scoring opportunities by kicking wide. The many chances came from Somerset’s complete control of the action early in the game.
“It took us a while to get up to the speed of the game,” said O’Toole. “It was only our second game, and we were a bit undone in the first five minutes by the early goals. I don’t think we really started playing up to speed until the second half, and we looked a lot better after that.”
For Blankenship, the first half reminded him of times when his team has struggled to score this season.
“Once again, I thought we controlled most of the action,” said the Head Coach. “We played well. We passed well. Our defense recognized their responsibilities and did a good job. We just didn’t finish when we had the chances to score.”
Somerset did score again, however, when Brown took a pass from Hall, controlled it in front of the net and delivered the Jumpers’ third goal. Somerset made it 4-nil in the 43rd minute by accident. Williams had a breakaway and was bearing down on Carter in net, when a Jaguar defender poked it away from him with his left foot, 20 yards away from the goal. Unfortunately for North Laurel, the kick was perfectly placed just out of the reach of Carter’s diving save attempt for an Own Goal.
Even though North Laurel played much better soccer in the second half they still could get nothing offensively against the Jumpers defense. Somerset goalkeeper Adam Lowe was not forced to make his first save until the 53rd minute, when he stopped a nice shot by Andrew Kidd. (Kidd was later carried off the field after suffering cramps in both legs at once.)
“There was just a difference in sharpness on the field tonight,” said O’Toole. “They (Somerset) are a strong side, technically and physically. And they were playing much sharper than we were. For us, this was just our second match, and I think that sharpness can only come from match play experience.
“But I’m very happy with the effort, especially in the second half. I thought Clay Smith played especially well for us out there tonight. We need someone who can step up and grab the game by the scruff of the neck, like he did tonight.”
Though North laurel played much better after halftime, they were never able to penetrate the Jumpers net as Lowe notched his third shutout of the season. Somerset tacked on a final goal in the 65th minute when Brown scored off a nice crossing pass from Kyle Clark to reach the final margin of 5-0, and move the Briar Jumpers’ record to 4-3.
“I was worried about this game without having a few of our starters available,” said Blankenship. “But I thought we played well, even though we didn’t finish as well as I’d like. I’m happy with a 5-0 win.”
Somerset returns to action Thursday against Pulaski County, while North Laurel will be off until Tuesday, when they go back on the road to play Oneida Baptist Institute.
Goals—SHS (5), Brown 2, Williams, Burlew (N. Laurel Own Goal)
Assists—SHS (3), Weigel, Hall, Clark
Saves—SHS, Lowe 2; NLHS, Carter 16.
