By David Rogers. HUDSON, N.C. — For the first time since Watauga men’s soccer head coach Josh Honeycutt was a player in the 1998-99 academic year, the Pioneers are the undefeated 3A/4A Northwestern Conference regular season champions, finishing league play with a dominant, 7-0 win over 4A rival South Caldwell on Nov. 5.
With the unblemished (10-0) record in conference play and 18-3-2 overall, the Pioneers now await their seeding by the NCHSAA in the upcoming playoffs for the 4A West bracket. Being the top finisher in conference along with eight more wins in a challenging non-conference schedule (early in the season) should earn the Pioneers a top five seeding and a first round home game. The playoffs are set to start on Saturday.
Against South Caldwell on the Spartan’s home turf, Watauga arguably defied the odds. Conditions were wet, it having rained most of the day leading up to kickoff. While the well-manicured football stadium field has a good crown that allows for excellent drainage, the day’s runoff was evident by the large pools of water around the sloping edges, making for moat-like conditions.
Just as the night before, Watauga dominated possession in the early going, but South Caldwell’s defense held firm for most of the first half, including a handful of brilliant saves by junior goalkeeper Armando Gomez. Even if the Spartans rarely threatened in the Pioneers’ defensive third, South Caldwell’s defense kept the home crowd hoping for an upset, at least for the first 31 minutes.
With 9:35 remaining in the first half, the defensive dam broke. Awarded a penalty kick, Watauga midfielder slammed home a driving shot to the right that left Gomez paralyzed and muttering to himself, “They always go to the right.”
Moments later, junior striker Asher Hampton sent the first of two goals on the night searing the back of the net, helping the Pioneers to a 2-0 halftime lead — a lead similar to what Watauga had the night before in Jack Groce Stadium.
But unlike the night before, the Pioneers did not grow complacent. They kept the proverbial “pedal to the metal,” scoring five more goals before their night’s work was done.
First was a goal by Quincy Honeycutt, just nine minutes into the second half, with Ganley credited with an assist. From there, it seemed Watauga was a regular customer at the back of the South Caldwell net.
In the 52nd minute, senior Curtis Sevensky pushed through for the first of his two scores. Five minutes later, Gavin Lapinski got on the scoresheet with a goal, followed by Sevensky’s second goal in the 72nd minute. Hampton finished off the night’s scoring with five minutes remaining in the game, an assist credited to junior midfielder Shiris Kandel.
“I could not be prouder of this team,” Josh Honeycutt said afterwards. “They played a complete game. They played exactly the way we needed to play to get the win. Even in bad weather with sloppy conditions, that is exactly what we did. To finish the regular season undefeated in conference play is unbelievable. To the best of my knowledge, that hasn’t been done by the Pioneers since 1998-99 when I was a player. So that is a super awesome accomplishment. I am proud of these guys and how they battled not just in this game but throughout the season.”
