By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — There was a certain irony in the Watauga’s 4-0, men’s soccer win over Hibriten on Oct. 21. The Josh Honeycutt-coached Pioneers pride themselves in being among the fittest, if not THE fittest high school soccer team in North Carolina, aiming to wear opponents down and still have the legs to outpoint them in the 60th minute and beyond.
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Against the visiting Panthers at Jack Groce Stadium, Watauga only needed 18 minutes to get on the scoreboard when Ben Myers looped a ball from the middle of the attacking third, into a heavily populated area some 20 yards in front of the Hibriten net — and Curtis Sevensky suddenly emerged between two Panther defenders, dribbled ahead, then punched the ball past the surprised Hibriten goalkeeper for the game’s first score.
Sevensky’s sequence to open scoring
Barely five more minutes had ticked off the clock when Alex Aguilar lifted another pass, this one from the right side and into the same “danger zone” — finding Myers with the ball at his feet and an open net in front. So, of course, the junior striker did the “gentlemanly” thing and smacked the ball past a diving goalkeeper, into the goal.
There was no question who was the superior high school soccer team on this night, fittest as well as most skilled. Watauga all but dominated possession and quickly subdued the few Hibriten counterattacking opportunities to earn the shutout.
In the second half, the Pioneers tallied goals by Gavin Lipinski, as well as by Aguilar. Myers and Sevensky were both credited with second half assists.
“We played pretty well. We figured out how to play through the middle and across the field,” Myers said after the game. “It really opened things up for us… We have really worked hard these past two weeks to regain our fitness, after the storm. Overall, we played at a high level.”
Over the past few years, Hibriten has emerged as Watauga’s archrival, of sorts, the two teams always seeming to battle for Northwestern Conference supremacy. Because of Hurricane Helene’s impact in effectively shutting down schools in the High Country, Hibriten had played a few more games than the Pioneers, coming into the match. The Panthers were 14-4-1 overall and unbeaten at 5-0 in conference play coming into the match while Watauga 10-3-2 overall and just 2-0 in conference play.
“We have some games to make up,” said Honeycutt, Watauga’s head coach, after the final buzzer had sounded. “Right now, we are sitting at the top with no losses, which is exactly where we wanted to be at the end of the day.”
Now in his eighth year as head coach of the Pioneer program, Honeycutt had high praise for his charges, especially given what they have been through the past three weeks in dealing with the effects of Hurricane Helene, individually as well as in the wider community, volunteering to help others.
“They did absolutely everything we asked of them,” said Honeycutt. “And that is crucial because sometimes you get a half and not the other half (and end up losing). These guys came ready to win tonight. They did everything we asked them to do: our passing, possession, moving the ball through the midfield, changing the point of attack, getting into dangerous offensive situations and taking advantage. They worked all night long.”
A big lead in the second half allowed Watauga to play a number of rostered players, getting valuable on-field time.
“It is huge for us to have bench depth,” said Honeycutt. “It helps keep players fresh and part of what we want to do is run people. We try to be the most fit team on the field. If we can get opponents tired, then their skill drops. So having guys on the bench that you can trust and you are going to get quality minutes out of them, that is huge. And that is especially true in a week like this where we are playing three conference games.”
Watauga will travel to Hibriten on Wednesday (Oct. 23) before traveling in the other direction on Thursday (Oct. 24), to face another dangerous NWC opponent, Ashe County (9-6-1, overall).
Honeycutt expects the Oct. 23 rematch to be intense and exciting.
“Hibriten will be fired up, looking for revenge after this result up here,” he said. “They have a great program and a passionate fan base, so we have to be at our best.”
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