By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Against NCHSAA 2A power Fred T. Foard High School, Watauga women’s soccer face one of the best coached and better prepared teams they will face in the non-conference schedule. Thanks to persistent defense and an adept “small ball” offensive attack, the Pioneers prevailed, 2-0.
Pioneer senior forward Katie Durham recorded a first half goal, the assist credited to Morgan Flynt. The final goal came midway through the second half, by Charlotte Cuthbert and the assist credited to Savanna Rogers.
“Morgan gave a really good through-ball,” said Durham in recalling her first half goal. “I was just able to get to it before the goalkeeper.”
Cuthbert said her goal resulted from a cross kick pass from Rogers. In terms of the Pioneers’ expectations in meeting Foard, Cuthbert added, “We know from past games in which we have played them, in previous seasons, they always come pretty aggressive. They come out strong. They have a consistency in their strength throughout the game.”
“We knew that most of Foard’s games are on fields that are much smaller than ours,” said Durham. “So we wanted to really make them run, maybe make them tire. We have the biggest field in our conference and one of the biggest in the region.”
Watauga head coach Chris Tarnowski was quick to express appreciation for Foard and the stiff opposition they provided.
“We have to give a lot of credit to Foard,” said Tarnowski about Watauga’s March 13 opponent. “They are an extremely well-coached team and they have one of the highest strength of schedules in the entire West region. After losing their opening match to one of our Northwestern Conference rivals, Hibriten, by the same score we beat them today (2-0), Foard came into this match with three straight wins over Maiden (6-0), Bandys (3-1) and Crest (4-3). They came out to play tonight and are probably among the most solid defensive teams we will face all year.”
Analyzing his own team’s performance, gave another nod to Foard’s defense.
“We had a little bit of trouble in the first half moving the ball the way we like,” said Tarnowski. “We just needed to settle down. We did that and put together some small passes in the middle that really fuels our entire offense. We have the players to connect quick, small passes when they are on it. It just takes some minutes playing together to get that chemistry down and that confidence in one another. That’s why we schedule these early season tough games. We want to build off of these Foard type matches.
“Those quick short passes is the way we think the game should be played,” Tarnowski added. “It is a style that makes sure all of the players on the field get involved. Foard plays the same way and that is one of the reasons this game was so close. You had two really good teams playing good soccer.”
Tarnowski acknowledged that Watauga has some new faces on the field this season and it takes minutes playing together to establish the kind of chemistry required.
“Our new players and others playing in new roles are doing really, really well,” he said. “They will get even better with the minutes playing together.”
Now 4-0 in the young season with non-conference wins over St. Stephens (5-1), Wilkes Central (5-1), East Forsyth (4-1), and now Foard (2-0). The Pioneers are halfway through their non-conference schedule with four more tough assignments on March 15 @ Forbush (Yadkinville), March 18 @ Asheville, March 22 vs. Lincoln Charter, and March 28 @ Abingdon. They open Northwestern Conference play on April 9 @ South Caldwell and April 12 @ Alexander Central.
