. Defense allows Knights to overcome slow start in 5-0 opening victory
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807 | Twitter: @JimmyLewisWT
With seniors anchoring the back line of the defense for the Greenfield School varsity boys soccer team, the defending North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association 1-A champions have a lofty goal in mind for a 2020 season unlike any other.
Sure, the experience-laden Knights have designs on defending their title. But along the way, Greenfield wants at least 90% of its matches to end with the opponent leaving scoreless.
It’s off to a solid start in that regard.
Following a first half Tuesday night that saw the offense attempting to force the issue up the middle too much with heralded senior Jeremy Alvarez, the Knights emerged from a scoreless opening 40 minutes to end with a hat trick from Alvarez — and a 5-0 victory over Raleigh Friendship Christian on Forbes Field in the season opener for both teams.
Greenfield of the split 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference held its former conference foes to just one shot in the second half after the Falcons, now affiliated with the 2-A Raleigh Area Athletic Conference, broke loose and threatened the Greenfield net on six shots in the first half.
But with senior defender Cabell Metts missing, a Knights defense headed by sophomore Nathan Lozevski, senior Will Powell, sophomore Lee Powell, sophomore Tyler Thompson and senior Sebastian Partida were steady in front of senior Frankie Peele, who was credited with three saves.”
“Overall, the whole back line did a good job of just defending and then also building our pressure,” third-year Greenfield head coach Eric Nguyen said.
The defense held Friendship in check as the Greenfield offense filtered through its early tendencies to force feed Partida, who was the subject of man marking and double teams in congested areas. As a result, the Knights became terse before halftime arrived and the adjustment made to start taking advantage of natural number mismatches on the outside.
“In the first half, we felt like Jeremy was really being marked quite a bit,” Nguyen said. “And we kept trying to find Jeremy the ball, when instead we had 3 v. 2’s and 2 v. 1’s on the outside, and we didn’t use those. So once we used them in the second half, we created some pretty easy opportunities, and we finished those.”
Greenfield, which launched 36 shots at the Friendship Christian net, began the onslaught roughly three minutes into the second half. Senior newcomer Julian Suarez-Robles threaded the ball to sophomore R.J. Shealy, who laced an accurate shot from 20 yards out.
Despite the attention, Partida found his groove as the second half wore on.
“The whole team knows Jeremy is going to find a way to get the ball,” Nguyen said. “It’s just important to trust the rest of our teammates and get them involved. The opportunity will open up for him to have it.”
Greenfield, ever the connoisseur of the short corner kick, utilized it in the 52nd minute with Partida playing it in to Alvarez. Working off a 2-on-1, Alvarez slotted it home at the near post. He notched his second goal in the 67th off an assist from junior Jacob Wiggs and two minutes later, senior William Smith sent a through ball to Alvarez that was put away for the hat trick and a 4-0 Greenfield edge.
“Surprisingly, Coach told us to stop passing the ball to me and start trusting our teammates a little bit more,” Alvarez said of the second-half adjustments. “So when that happened, the ball started opening up and space started opening up, which let me find more space in front of the goal. Shoutout to my coach.”
Inside the 80th minute, Greenfield stayed on the attack. Having scored two goals in the prior junior varsity contest, seventh grader Landyn Coolbaugh collected a rebound off an Alvarez shot that bounded away from the Friendship keeper. Coolbaugh knocked it in as the final whistle sounded, earning him a trip on his teammate’s shoulders in the postgame huddle.
Greenfield stays at Forbes Field on Thursday to face DASH United before visiting Wilson Christian on Friday.
“The first half, we did give up a few shots,” Nguyen said. “But that from us just turning over the ball in silly ways. In the second half, I think they had two or three shots (actually one), but nothing ever felt super dangerous.”
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807 | Twitter: @JimmyLewisWT
With seniors anchoring the back line of the defense for the Greenfield School varsity boys soccer team, the defending North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association 1-A champions have a lofty goal in mind for a 2020 season unlike any other.
Sure, the experience-laden Knights have designs on defending their title. But along the way, Greenfield wants at least 90% of its matches to end with the opponent leaving scoreless.
It’s off to a solid start in that regard.
Following a first half Tuesday night that saw the offense attempting to force the issue up the middle too much with heralded senior Jeremy Alvarez, the Knights emerged from a scoreless opening 40 minutes to end with a hat trick from Alvarez — and a 5-0 victory over Raleigh Friendship Christian on Forbes Field in the season opener for both teams.
Greenfield of the split 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference held its former conference foes to just one shot in the second half after the Falcons, now affiliated with the 2-A Raleigh Area Athletic Conference, broke loose and threatened the Greenfield net on six shots in the first half.
But with senior defender Cabell Metts missing, a Knights defense headed by sophomore Nathan Lozevski, senior Will Powell, sophomore Lee Powell, sophomore Tyler Thompson and senior Sebastian Partida were steady in front of senior Frankie Peele, who was credited with three saves.”
“Overall, the whole back line did a good job of just defending and then also building our pressure,” third-year Greenfield head coach Eric Nguyen said.
The defense held Friendship in check as the Greenfield offense filtered through its early tendencies to force feed Partida, who was the subject of man marking and double teams in congested areas. As a result, the Knights became terse before halftime arrived and the adjustment made to start taking advantage of natural number mismatches on the outside.
“In the first half, we felt like Jeremy was really being marked quite a bit,” Nguyen said. “And we kept trying to find Jeremy the ball, when instead we had 3 v. 2’s and 2 v. 1’s on the outside, and we didn’t use those. So once we used them in the second half, we created some pretty easy opportunities, and we finished those.”
Greenfield, which launched 36 shots at the Friendship Christian net, began the onslaught roughly three minutes into the second half. Senior newcomer Julian Suarez-Robles threaded the ball to sophomore R.J. Shealy, who laced an accurate shot from 20 yards out.
Despite the attention, Partida found his groove as the second half wore on.
“The whole team knows Jeremy is going to find a way to get the ball,” Nguyen said. “It’s just important to trust the rest of our teammates and get them involved. The opportunity will open up for him to have it.”
Greenfield, ever the connoisseur of the short corner kick, utilized it in the 52nd minute with Partida playing it in to Alvarez. Working off a 2-on-1, Alvarez slotted it home at the near post. He notched his second goal in the 67th off an assist from junior Jacob Wiggs and two minutes later, senior William Smith sent a through ball to Alvarez that was put away for the hat trick and a 4-0 Greenfield edge.
“Surprisingly, Coach told us to stop passing the ball to me and start trusting our teammates a little bit more,” Alvarez said of the second-half adjustments. “So when that happened, the ball started opening up and space started opening up, which let me find more space in front of the goal. Shoutout to my coach.”
Inside the 80th minute, Greenfield stayed on the attack. Having scored two goals in the prior junior varsity contest, seventh grader Landyn Coolbaugh collected a rebound off an Alvarez shot that bounded away from the Friendship keeper. Coolbaugh knocked it in as the final whistle sounded, earning him a trip on his teammate’s shoulders in the postgame huddle.
Greenfield stays at Forbes Field on Thursday to face DASH United before visiting Wilson Christian on Friday.
“The first half, we did give up a few shots,” Nguyen said. “But that from us just turning over the ball in silly ways. In the second half, I think they had two or three shots (actually one), but nothing ever felt super dangerous.”
