By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — In soccer terms, it was a thing of beauty. Just minutes into the Watauga men’s soccer match vs. West Caldwell at Jack Groce Stadium on Aug. 16, Curtis Sevensky gathered the ball along the right sideline, then deftly lofted a crossing kick. In one fell swoop, teammate Micah Duvall nailed the ball on the fly from about 15 yards out in front of the left post, pounding the ball past the stunned goalkeeper for the first of Watauga’s eight goals.
As it turned out, that goal set the tone for the entire match. The final score was 8-0, but maybe we should give the Pioneers another half point because a ninth tally hit the back of the net while the final horn to end play was still blaring, even if the horn sounded before the shot was taken.
“I am very pleased, obviously, after all the hard work just two days ago in earning a draw against highly ranked Ardrey Kell, at their field in 100-degree temperatures,” said Watauga head coach Josh Honeycutt. “Coming into this game, our objective was to not take a step back but to continue to get better, to build. Regardless of who we play, that is the message we preach. It doesn’t matter who your opponent is, that’s the guy you have to beat. We did that today and I am super proud of our guys’ mentality knowing it is going to take our best effort to win.”
Honeycutt added that it is always nice to play on your home turf, but was deservedly guarded in facing West Caldwell.
“They beat us down there last year,” he recalled. “We may not have given them our best game for whatever reason, but they beat us. We weren’t sufficiently prepared so I chalk it up as an early season blunder.”
Honeycutt described the mentality of his team as “… hungry to win and wanting to destroy every opponent.”
As you might expect in an 8-0 drubbing of an opponent, several Watauga players stood out on the day, including seven players getting goals and six assists spread among five players, but perhaps none came to the fore with consistently good play than freshman newcomer Gavin Lapinsky, who was one of those seven players finding the back of West Caldwell’s net.
When Honeycutt was asked about Lapinsky, the coach said, “He’s becoming a great player. He has lots of skill and puts in a lot of hard work. And, frankly, he has lots of soccer knowledge for his age. He has the ability to know where to be and when to be. He is just a really intelligent, hard-working player who puts himself in the right position, with a desire to be the best he can be.”
Watauga soccer has two home matches next on the team schedule, vs. West Forsyth (Clemmons) on Aug. 21 and Forbush (East Bend) on Aug. 24. What follows are four successive road matches at East Lincoln (Denver), R J Reynolds (Winston-Salem), Mt. Tabor (Winston-Salem) and A C Reynolds (Asheville).
After two non-conference home games vs. Lake Norman (Mooresville, Sept. 12) and Cox Mill (Concord, Aug. 14), Watauga opens Northwestern Conference play at home vs. South Caldwell on Sept. 20.
WATAUGA SCORING VS. WEST CALDWELL
- Alex Aguilar (2 goals)
- Micah Duvall (1)
- Ayden Johnson (1)
- Jossue Galan (1)
- Kohen Pitts (1)
- Gavin Lapinsky (1)
- Jack Wilson (1)
ASSISTS
- Thomas Moss (2)
- Curtis Sevensky (1)
- Gavin Lapinski (1)
- Lars Best (1)
- Ben Myers (1)
DUELING CAMERAS
BONUS PHOTOS
