The Tigers made the trip to Fork Union Military Academy for a rivalry match on Wednesday afternoon. After a thrilling 80 minutes of soccer, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. On the season, the Tigers moved to 2-12-3.
After a scoreless start to the match, the Tigers capitalized on a great scoring chance as senior, Daniel Pierce, ripped a shot on net. The ball was rebounded off the Fork Union goalkeeper and Xiao ZhengNan was able to find the back of the net in the 36th minute, giving Hargrave a 1-0 lead as the first half finished. Xiao’s goal came after the Tigers had been knocking on the door all half, as they collected seven shots on goal throughout the first half, narrowly missing a couple scoring opportunities. Junior, Nathan Higdon, just missed on a header coming from a Pierce corner kick in the 23rd minute and the Tigers also came close to scoring on an indirect free kick in the penalty area that went just wide.
“We are very proud of our guys as they came out very strong and were able to press very high to create a lot of (scoring) chances in the offensive half,” said Head Coach Jeremy Eubank. “The high energy and team chemistry were evident today and that allowed us to get off to a great start.”
As the match moved into the second half, Hargrave kept their feet on the pedal as they came out with the same energy, which lead to seven more shots on goal for the Tigers. Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalize. In the 55th minute, the Tigers gave up a goal off a deflection, which tied the match at 1-1 where it remained deadlocked until the final whistle.
“To compete for 80 minutes against a rival school was a great display of our young men and they represented themselves, their families, and the Academy extremely well today”, stated Eubank. “We will have another shot at them (Fork Union) next week and if we are able to make a couple adjustments, we will be able to be just as competitive.”
The Tigers close out their season on Tuesday, October 29th as they match up with Fork Union Military Academy. Game time is scheduled for 4:30 PM from Simpson Parade Field.
