Hawks ground the Trojans, 1-0
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian didn’t play its best, and Charlotte Latin took advan-tage.The Trojans held possession in big chunks and created the occasional scoring opportunity, but the Hawks netted the lone goal of the match in the 54th minute to beat Wesleyan 1-0 in the championship of the Sanford Classic boys soccer tournament Saturday afternoon at Sanford Field.
“We played poorly,” Trojans coach Scott Reitnour said. “But Latin are just better than us. They played a delayed high pressure, pick us up at midfield 4-5-1. They sat in and looked to get their chance on either the break or a counter or a dead ball. They won the penalty and we didn’t execute.
“We’re really inconsistent in training and, consequently, early in the season we’re not able to execute. I told the guys: I’m not going to soften it for you — it was what it was. Yesterday, our substitutes that came on didn’t get the job done and we lost the second half 2-0. And today our first group didn’t get the job done.“All that said, if Latin doesn’t play brilliantly, then maybe we find a way to get it done. But, when you play a team like Latin, they’re going to be organized, they’re going to have a game plan and they’re going to execute. So, you’d better execute as well and we didn’t.”
Wesleyan (2-1), coming off a 6-3 win Friday against Concord First Assembly, maintained fairly steady pressure in the midfield but couldn’t connect on much near the goal, as Latin disrupted many of the Trojans’ offensive chances.
After a scoreless first half, the Hawks (2-0) quickly moved forward on an opportunity early in the second half. Wesleyan was whistled for a foul in the penalty area, and Latin netted the penalty kick to take the lead.
“We don’t make excuses,” said Reitnour, who jokingly said they needed VAR to review the call but added that he trusted the referee’s decision. “He won the penalty, they sunk the kick – one, nil.
”The Trojans — who have won four of the last five state titles, including last year’s first 4A champion-ship — worked to score the equalizer over the final 20 minutes. They tried to create chances and got a hand-ful of decent looks, includ-ing several corner kicks.But they just couldn’t quite connect on enough to yield good, solid shots
.“We circulated the ball decently, but we were not dynamic,” Reitnour said. “Teams are going to sit in against us, because we’re good enough to have the ball a lot. So, we’ve got to look at pass penetration that breaks the lines. We’ve got to look at flank play that pulls teams apart horizon-tally.
“And when we don’t do those things, what we have is a lot of square possession in front of the other team — and that’s what we had today. We weren’t dangerous, and they were organized enough to sit in and keep the ball in front of them. We just weren’t dangerous enough, dynamic enough.
“For us, finding our attacking midfielders and central striker – that’s something we have to improve, and then moving off them once we find their feet. And our ball speed and our handling speed — way too slow. So, as Latin are defending, they can all just shift.
“So, you move the ball but you don’t really go anywhere. That’s what we did today, and that’s not good enough at Wesleyan.”
Christopher Kelly made three saves in goal for Wesleyan, which trailed Latin 7-6 in shots for the match. The Trojans will next play in the Triad Cup at Bryan Park — starting Tuesday against Grimsley at 7 p.m.
“We’ve got to focus on training,” Reitnour said, concerning his team moving for ward. “We’ve got to be more competitive in practice. Each guy, like Bill Belichick says, you have to know your job. What’s your job? Do your job. If we don’t have the guts to set into our role and execute and we can’t do it consistently in practice, then we’re not going to do it in games.
“But, with that said, I believe in these guys. The most important thing I want them to take away from what we’re doing is that what we’re doing is that we’re not here to beat them down. We’re here to prod them for ward, and I believe in them. They will fi x these problems because we have a great senior class that are really good ser vant leaders, and they will solve these problems.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichae
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Wesleyan Christian didn’t play its best, and Charlotte Latin took advan-tage.The Trojans held possession in big chunks and created the occasional scoring opportunity, but the Hawks netted the lone goal of the match in the 54th minute to beat Wesleyan 1-0 in the championship of the Sanford Classic boys soccer tournament Saturday afternoon at Sanford Field.
“We played poorly,” Trojans coach Scott Reitnour said. “But Latin are just better than us. They played a delayed high pressure, pick us up at midfield 4-5-1. They sat in and looked to get their chance on either the break or a counter or a dead ball. They won the penalty and we didn’t execute.
“We’re really inconsistent in training and, consequently, early in the season we’re not able to execute. I told the guys: I’m not going to soften it for you — it was what it was. Yesterday, our substitutes that came on didn’t get the job done and we lost the second half 2-0. And today our first group didn’t get the job done.“All that said, if Latin doesn’t play brilliantly, then maybe we find a way to get it done. But, when you play a team like Latin, they’re going to be organized, they’re going to have a game plan and they’re going to execute. So, you’d better execute as well and we didn’t.”
Wesleyan (2-1), coming off a 6-3 win Friday against Concord First Assembly, maintained fairly steady pressure in the midfield but couldn’t connect on much near the goal, as Latin disrupted many of the Trojans’ offensive chances.
After a scoreless first half, the Hawks (2-0) quickly moved forward on an opportunity early in the second half. Wesleyan was whistled for a foul in the penalty area, and Latin netted the penalty kick to take the lead.
“We don’t make excuses,” said Reitnour, who jokingly said they needed VAR to review the call but added that he trusted the referee’s decision. “He won the penalty, they sunk the kick – one, nil.
”The Trojans — who have won four of the last five state titles, including last year’s first 4A champion-ship — worked to score the equalizer over the final 20 minutes. They tried to create chances and got a hand-ful of decent looks, includ-ing several corner kicks.But they just couldn’t quite connect on enough to yield good, solid shots
.“We circulated the ball decently, but we were not dynamic,” Reitnour said. “Teams are going to sit in against us, because we’re good enough to have the ball a lot. So, we’ve got to look at pass penetration that breaks the lines. We’ve got to look at flank play that pulls teams apart horizon-tally.
“And when we don’t do those things, what we have is a lot of square possession in front of the other team — and that’s what we had today. We weren’t dangerous, and they were organized enough to sit in and keep the ball in front of them. We just weren’t dangerous enough, dynamic enough.
“For us, finding our attacking midfielders and central striker – that’s something we have to improve, and then moving off them once we find their feet. And our ball speed and our handling speed — way too slow. So, as Latin are defending, they can all just shift.
“So, you move the ball but you don’t really go anywhere. That’s what we did today, and that’s not good enough at Wesleyan.”
Christopher Kelly made three saves in goal for Wesleyan, which trailed Latin 7-6 in shots for the match. The Trojans will next play in the Triad Cup at Bryan Park — starting Tuesday against Grimsley at 7 p.m.
“We’ve got to focus on training,” Reitnour said, concerning his team moving for ward. “We’ve got to be more competitive in practice. Each guy, like Bill Belichick says, you have to know your job. What’s your job? Do your job. If we don’t have the guts to set into our role and execute and we can’t do it consistently in practice, then we’re not going to do it in games.
“But, with that said, I believe in these guys. The most important thing I want them to take away from what we’re doing is that what we’re doing is that we’re not here to beat them down. We’re here to prod them for ward, and I believe in them. They will fi x these problems because we have a great senior class that are really good ser vant leaders, and they will solve these problems.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichae
