The Huntsville Eagles Soccer team traveled east Saturday to play in the Harrison Invitational Tournament.
In the first game of the day the Eagles played conference rival Berryville losing 3-0. Berryville is currently ranked #1 in the state for the 4A. The Eagles got off to a slow start giving up three first half goals but settled down in the second half and held the Bobcats scoreless.
In the second game of the day, the Eagles took on the perennial 5A powerhouse Siloam Springs losing 3-1. Siloam jumped up to an early 1-0 lead before Senior midfielder Marcus Dorsey was able to connect with sophomore forward Matt Weaver who managed to punch the ball into the net tying the score up 1-1. Toward the end of the first half Siloam slipped a ball into the backside of the Eagle’s net to take a 2-1 lead and then added a third goal toward the end of regulation to secure a 3-1 victory for the Panthers.
The final game of the day pitted the boy’s from Huntsville against Valley View. Valley View was ranked #2 in the state in the 4A Conference coming into the weekend and battled the Eagles in a hard fought 1-0 win for Huntsville.
Senior goalkeeper Pablo Chombo had 11 saves on the day leading the Eagle defense to their 5th shutout of the season. Missing their entire starting defense for the day due to other Spring Break activities the Eagles had to play the day with a makeshift defensive line.
“Senior midfielder Ricardo Vasquez was forced to slide back into a center defender position for us while sophomore Dylan White and freshman Ismail Vasquez stepped in to the defensive back positions today,” said Eagles head coach Kevin Shinn. “Their efforts along with those of senior defender Charles Scudday managed to shutdown Valley View’s forwards and frustrated their offensive attacks all day.”
The lone score of the game came with 4:00 minutes left in regulation when junior forward Juan Hernandez was fouled and forced to leave the game due to an injury. Senior midfielder Angel Hernandez took the free kick and placed it perfectly on the backside of the goal where sophomore Matt Weaver finished the ball into the back of the net sealing the Eagles 1-0 victory.
“This was a great day for our guys,” said Shinn. “Playing short-handed against the best teams in the state they held their own and pulled off the biggest upset in our program’s history to end the day.”
The Huntsville hosts Green Forest at Eagle Field Tuesday night and then travels to Decatur Friday night in 1-4A Conference action.
Tags:
huntsville eagles, kevin shinn, valley view
Posted at: 01:28 AM | Add Comment
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