By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Evan Mawhinney earned a ‘brace’ of goals on Aug. 24, finding the back of the net for both of Watauga junior varsity’s scores against visiting Forbush (East End, N.C.) in the 2-0 win.
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Although the Pioneers dominated possession and threatened the Forbush goal throughout the match, both of Mawhinney’s tallies came in the first half.
“Midfielder David Ganley gave me a beautiful long pass over the top, a little left of center for the first one,” said Mawhinney in recalling the first goal for reporters. “I was able to (deliver) the ball across, in front of the goalkeeper to the right side of the net.”
Mawhinney said the second goal was made possible by some brilliant passing among the midfielders, until he finally received a pass again on the left side from Shiris Kandel.
Mawhinney was especially proud of the work by his defensive backline, from which most counterattack starts. “They are really solid,” said the Pioneer freshman.
Pioneer JV head coach Vern Collins was pleased with the way his players outworked the Forbush eleven, beating them to the ball at nearly every turn.
“Josh Honeycutt, the varsity head coach, says we may get beaten by a better side on any given day but we are not going to be outworked,” said Collins.
The Pioneer team performance featured a number of snappy, one-touch passes to teammates in open space. Collins said that a point of emphasis the past few weeks is mastering those one- and two-touch passing skills, working the ball from midfield to the frontline.
“The next thing we need to work on is ‘finishing’ the attack,” said Collins.
Now 2-1-1, the Watauga junior varsity men’s soccer team next travels to Denver, N.C. to face East Lincoln on Aug. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
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