By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Giving up three goals in the first 13 minutes of play on Aug. 14 proved too much to overcome for the Watauga junior varsity men’s soccer. The Pioneers proved resilient in the second half, but fell to the host Ardrey Kell Knights, 4-0, in both teams’ 2023 season opener.
Watauga endured a three and a half hour bus ride to get to the Knights’ home pitch, the team’s arrival delayed three times by car crashes ahead of them on I-77. Upon arrival, they stepped out of the school bus into an oven — 96 degrees Fahrenheit and high humidity vs. the 71-degree weather they had left earlier in the afternoon, in Boone.
“Coming into it we knew it was going to be a tough matchup,” said Watauga JV coach Vern Collins afterwards. “As a program, we like to load the non-conference portion of our schedule with better teams because it is an opportunity for these boys to learn and to grow.
“It took us basically to the second half to play at the intensity level that we prefer,” Collins added. “We were sluggish in the first half. The heat was a shocker. Our mountain boys are spoiled! But seriously, we like to tell our guys that the heat and the conditions they can’t control. But what they can control is their level of play. Even though the scoreboard doesn’t reflect the outcome we wanted, we are very proud of the way they picked up the level of intensity in the second half.”
Collins pointed out that the Watauga JV team is quite young.
“We sent a lot of guys from last year to varsity this year,” he said. “We have a lot of freshmen, but there is a lot of talent on this team. We have been able to tell very quickly that these guys are buying into the culture of Watauga soccer.”
Watauga will play under more favorable conditions in their next encounter, on Aug. 16, when they host West Caldwell (Lenoir) at Jack Groce Stadium. The JVs’ kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m., with the varsity to follow.
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