Hitting the reset button: Greenfield rises above scrappy Liberty Christian
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807 | Twitter: @JimmyLewisWT
To hear the Greenfield School varsity boys soccer team tell it, the Knights currently own a spotless 3-0 record.
Sure, there’s the matter of a pesky three-game losing streak that forced the reigning North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association 1-A champions to take an introspective look as to why a talented roster owned a losing record five games into the season.
But the result of those analysis and discussions? A rebirth, or a “second reset,” as the program is terming it.
That reset continued to rage Thursday night on Forbes Field.
Opposing a first-year member of the 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference in Richlands Liberty Christian, the Knights were seeking to grab a measure of revenge for a 5-2 loss on the road just over a week prior — a result that sent Greenfield out of its mental game, stumbling to 2-3 and henceforth demanding answers of itself.
Despite controlling play in the first half, the Knights were left with a 1-1 tie at halftime after failing to clear a ball out of its penalty area in a timely fashion in the 29th minute. But the Greenfield attack finally broke through in the second half, overcoming overly physical play on the part of the Heat and pulling away for a 5-1 victory.
For those scoring at home, the second reset now reflects a 3-0 record, 22 goals scored and just the one tally conceded in the first half Thursday.
Indeed, consider these Knights rowing in the same direction once more.
“We just went through a rough stretch,” Greenfield head coach Eric Nguyen said. “Three losses in games that we thought we should have been more competitive in. We just had to refocus, reset and in this reset, we’ve scored 22 goals and given up one. And we’re 3-0. So, I think it’s helped out.”
Senior Jeremy Alvarez had a hat trick and added an assist as Greenfield climbed to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in CPIC play. Greenfield peppered the Liberty Christian (4-3, 1-2 CPIC) net for 38 shots and took 13 corners, but had just one lone goal to show for its possession dominance at halftime. Senior Sebastian Partida, who had three assists and expertly directed the Knights in the attacking third, found a streaking Alvarez with a service inside the 18-yard box. Alvarez gathered and sent it past the keeper in the 26th minute, putting the Knights up 1-0. That lasted all of 2:47, when Liberty’s Alexis Ramirez put away a bouncing ball in the box that the Knights couldn’t clear.
However, in the 55th minute, Greenfield broke through.
A blatant shoving foul from Liberty that resulted in a yellow card set the Knights up at the side of the area. Alvarez approached the ball and lofted it for senior Will Powell, who headed it in to put Greenfield ahead for good.
“One of the goals for the second reset of our season was zero dissent cards,” Alvarez said. “They were scrappy, they got on our nerves, but we had to keep that key point in our head that we could not afford any cards because with the cards, we would have been out of this game.”
Despite Liberty’s occasional rough play on the ball, Greenfield was permitted reams of space to advance its attack. Partida and Alvarez made the Heat pay for such in the 58th when Partida found Alvarez from approximately 25 yards out. Given all the room necessary to uncork a powerful strike, Alvarez finished top shelf to put the Knights up 3-1.
Greenfield drew a foul with 17:02 to play, allowing Alvarez to take the PK and put it away to complete the hat trick.
In addition to its proficiency on the ball, the Knights displayed a desire to attack and win 50-50 balls in the air. That set up Greenfield’s final goal, when after winning the ball in the air, Partida drove down the middle of the field and located junior Jacob Wiggs. Once inside the area, Wiggs leapt over a defender and put it away for a quality finish with 10:13 to play.
Nguyen was effusive in his praise for Partida’s field generalship.
“I thought Junior (Partida) was the player of the game,” Nguyen said. “He was controlling our tempo, he had three assists tonight which really helped our team just keep moving.”
In goal, senior keeper Frankie Peele was credited with two saves.
Has Nguyen, a chemist by trade, found the solution for the Knights?
“There was a sequence where we were just not ourselves,” Alvarez described. “We were just a whole different team. We weren’t playing with each other. So we came together. We did not train. We went to the locker room and we just talked about the things we needed to work on. So we just called that the reset of the season. Our goals were to win every game from now on and work as a team.”
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807 | Twitter: @JimmyLewisWT
To hear the Greenfield School varsity boys soccer team tell it, the Knights currently own a spotless 3-0 record.
Sure, there’s the matter of a pesky three-game losing streak that forced the reigning North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association 1-A champions to take an introspective look as to why a talented roster owned a losing record five games into the season.
But the result of those analysis and discussions? A rebirth, or a “second reset,” as the program is terming it.
That reset continued to rage Thursday night on Forbes Field.
Opposing a first-year member of the 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference in Richlands Liberty Christian, the Knights were seeking to grab a measure of revenge for a 5-2 loss on the road just over a week prior — a result that sent Greenfield out of its mental game, stumbling to 2-3 and henceforth demanding answers of itself.
Despite controlling play in the first half, the Knights were left with a 1-1 tie at halftime after failing to clear a ball out of its penalty area in a timely fashion in the 29th minute. But the Greenfield attack finally broke through in the second half, overcoming overly physical play on the part of the Heat and pulling away for a 5-1 victory.
For those scoring at home, the second reset now reflects a 3-0 record, 22 goals scored and just the one tally conceded in the first half Thursday.
Indeed, consider these Knights rowing in the same direction once more.
“We just went through a rough stretch,” Greenfield head coach Eric Nguyen said. “Three losses in games that we thought we should have been more competitive in. We just had to refocus, reset and in this reset, we’ve scored 22 goals and given up one. And we’re 3-0. So, I think it’s helped out.”
Senior Jeremy Alvarez had a hat trick and added an assist as Greenfield climbed to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in CPIC play. Greenfield peppered the Liberty Christian (4-3, 1-2 CPIC) net for 38 shots and took 13 corners, but had just one lone goal to show for its possession dominance at halftime. Senior Sebastian Partida, who had three assists and expertly directed the Knights in the attacking third, found a streaking Alvarez with a service inside the 18-yard box. Alvarez gathered and sent it past the keeper in the 26th minute, putting the Knights up 1-0. That lasted all of 2:47, when Liberty’s Alexis Ramirez put away a bouncing ball in the box that the Knights couldn’t clear.
However, in the 55th minute, Greenfield broke through.
A blatant shoving foul from Liberty that resulted in a yellow card set the Knights up at the side of the area. Alvarez approached the ball and lofted it for senior Will Powell, who headed it in to put Greenfield ahead for good.
“One of the goals for the second reset of our season was zero dissent cards,” Alvarez said. “They were scrappy, they got on our nerves, but we had to keep that key point in our head that we could not afford any cards because with the cards, we would have been out of this game.”
Despite Liberty’s occasional rough play on the ball, Greenfield was permitted reams of space to advance its attack. Partida and Alvarez made the Heat pay for such in the 58th when Partida found Alvarez from approximately 25 yards out. Given all the room necessary to uncork a powerful strike, Alvarez finished top shelf to put the Knights up 3-1.
Greenfield drew a foul with 17:02 to play, allowing Alvarez to take the PK and put it away to complete the hat trick.
In addition to its proficiency on the ball, the Knights displayed a desire to attack and win 50-50 balls in the air. That set up Greenfield’s final goal, when after winning the ball in the air, Partida drove down the middle of the field and located junior Jacob Wiggs. Once inside the area, Wiggs leapt over a defender and put it away for a quality finish with 10:13 to play.
Nguyen was effusive in his praise for Partida’s field generalship.
“I thought Junior (Partida) was the player of the game,” Nguyen said. “He was controlling our tempo, he had three assists tonight which really helped our team just keep moving.”
In goal, senior keeper Frankie Peele was credited with two saves.
Has Nguyen, a chemist by trade, found the solution for the Knights?
“There was a sequence where we were just not ourselves,” Alvarez described. “We were just a whole different team. We weren’t playing with each other. So we came together. We did not train. We went to the locker room and we just talked about the things we needed to work on. So we just called that the reset of the season. Our goals were to win every game from now on and work as a team.”
