By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It was a chilly, early autumn night at Jack Groce Stadium on Oct. 3, but the action was fast and furious as the Watauga men’s soccer team scored late in the first half against visiting Hibriten, then held on for a 1-0 Northwestern Conference win over the Panthers.
Emmitt Coffey was credited with the first half goal, with an assist from Curtis Sevensky.
It was a match marred by confusing referee calls by both sides. During the match there were vocal protests from both sidelines as well as from the grandstands. Thankfully, both teams maintained their composure without mishap as the referee changed calls, sometimes without letting the teams reset when he re-awarded a free kick, the teams having to scramble back into defensive positions.
As frustrating as the officiating might have been, it did not take away from an entertaining, hard-fought match. Hibriten came into the tilt 2-0 after dominating, Northwestern Conference wins over Freedom (Sept. 26, 7-0) and Ashe County (Sept. 28, 5-1) while Watauga was bouncing back from a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Alexander Central on Sept. 28, after prevailing over South Caldwell, 1-0, on Sept. 26.
“The conversation I had with the Hibriten coach after the game focused primarily on the horrific officiating, which seems to be the only consistency that we can find this year. Unfortunately, that is not a good consistency to have,” said Watauga head coach Josh Honeycutt after the match. “That said, credit to Hibriten because they are a great side representing an excellent program. They do a lot of really good things on the soccer field.
“We were able to find our consistency tonight, along with our passion and intensity and outwork them,” Honeycutt added. “That is really what it was tonight. We outworked them.”
Honeycutt conceded that Hibriten did a commendable job of taking his Pioneers off their normal one-touch and two-touch passing game.
“The first half was a little better, maybe, but in the second half we seemed to be happy just getting the ball out. When you have a lead, that is easy to do, but I want us to stay consistent with our connectivity, finding feet and connect those one-two passes and get the ball in and out. To Hibriten’s credit, they are a scrappy group that pressures really well. That makes it more difficult to make quick decisions and to maintain quick play with accurate passes, when they are pressing so much.” said the veteran Pioneer coach.
“I knew it was going to be a battle,” said Honeycutt. “They are sitting among the conference leaders for a reason. It was going to be a tough, scrappy, physical battle. But I also knew that we could play with them. That is what I told the boys leading into tonight’s game, that just because Hibriten has 10 wins and one loss doesn’t mean that we are not as good as they are. We proved that tonight and if we bring tonight’s passion and intensity to every game, we are not going to lose to Alexander Central, 3-0. But we have to find that consistency.”
Overall records, including non-conference results can be pretty deceiving. Watauga came into the match vs. Hibriten with a 3-8-1 overall record, but played some of the state’s toughest opponents in the non-conference portion of the Pioneers’ regular season schedule.
“That is why we do it,” said Honeycutt, “to prepare us for the conference schedule and, hopefully, the state playoffs. If we are 10-1 coming into conference play and we haven’t played any good competition, then what good has that done us? We intentionally scheduled one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the state and I think it is beneficial, looking beyond the records. We are battle-tested, having played with the best of the best. As a result, we are finally able to execute the way we should with some consistency. And we are finding wins.”
The Pioneers return to the friendly confines of Jack Groce Stadium on Oct. 5 against Freedom High School (Morganton), then travel to Ashe County on Oct. 10, as they reach the halfway point in the regular season schedule.
After the win, Watauga shares the No. 1 spot in the NWC standings with Hibriten and South Caldwell, all 2-1 in conference play. Alexander Central (1-1-1) is close behind, with Ashe County (0-1-2) and Freedom (0-2-1) rounding out the conference.
