By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Watauga jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second half, but visiting Hickory battled back to earn a 2-2 tie on Aug. 11 at Jack Groce Stadium.
Near the end of a first half defensive battle, Watauga junior forward Evan Mawhinney attacked from the left, zipping a shot along the ground past the outstretched arms of Hickory goalkeeper Anthony Jarrett, to give the Pioneers a slim advantage going into halftime. He added the Pioneers’ second goal early in the second half, seemingly giving Watauga control, but the Red Tornadoes’ senior forward Braeden McCourt tallied two goals of his own in the second half, the final tying shot coming with seven minutes to go in the game.
Afterwards, Watauga head coach Josh Honeycutt implored his charges not to relax at any point in a game, no matter how comfortable they felt a lead might be.
“Overall, it was a good game,” Honeycutt said after the final whistle. “First half, we played quality soccer. We did exactly what we wanted to do. We were able to exploit them with our speed, but then we didn’t finish our opportunities… We can’t let (teams) hang around and give them hope. We played great, but we got out of our style in the second half and got a little bit lazy. We lost track of their guy.”
Watauga’s preferred “style” is keeping possession with short, crisp passes, working the ball down the field.
“A long, diagonal ball works for us because we have speed,” Honeycutt said, “but we can’t rely on that. Ball control is our style. We have to stay composed, keep the ball and move it around. We can’t lean into what another team does.”
After a young team last year, Watauga could be a team to watch in the upcoming season and possibly into the state playoffs.
“We are loaded with juniors and seniors this year,” said Honeycutt. “We have two sophomores, 13 juniors and eight seniors, so we are very upperclassmen heavy. That is certainly something we need to take advantage of this year. They work well together and they are a great group of guys. It is a good opportunity to make something special this year.”
The Pioneers are back in action at Hibriten on Monday, Aug. 18 (6:30 p.m.), then back at home vs. Cuthbertson on Aug. 21 (6 p.m.).
