With a strong effort both offensively and defensively, the Hargrave Varsity Soccer Team came away with a win on Thursday by a score of 7-2 over Westover Christian.
The Tigers came out firing in the early going, scoring two goals within the first 15 minutes of play. Senior Captain Kayode Ogunnaike (2G, 1A) struck first, giving the tigers the 1-0 lead. Moments later, off a well placed crossed from Alnor Rodriguez (1G, 1A), Austin Newman (1G) added the second goal of the match for the tigers with a blast into the back of the net.
The Tigers continued to put pressure on the Westover defense for the remainder of the first half, but came up short on several occasions. Westover Christian stood strong, though, and added a goal just before the half making it a 2-1 tally at the end of 40 minutes.
The Tigers, though, were resilient and determined not to allow their opponent a chance to get back in the game. The offense came out firing once again scoring a goal within the first five minutes of the second half. The goal was credited to Alnor Rodriguez who was assisted by Nathan LeNoir (1G, 2A) to extend the Tiger’s lead to 3-1. Nathan LeNoir then struck again, this time adding the fourth goal of the match for the Tigers off an assist from Kayode Ogunnaike.
Senior Captain Charles Amos (1G, 1A) would not be left pointless for the match, as he added the fifth goal for the Tigers. Freshman, Nathan LeNoir added his second assist of the game to the Amos goal. Moments later, Kayode Ogunnaike tallied his second goal of the match off an assist from Charles Amos giving the Tigers a dominating lead of 6-1.
Both teams then added a late goal in the final stages of the match. Westover added a goal bringing the score to 6-2. Tumi Demuren then added the final goal of the match for the Tigers, closing out the victory, 7-2.
The Tiger’s Offense finished with 30 shots on goal.
The Tiger’s defense played another great game holding Westover Christian to only 6 shots in the match. Led by Captain Chris Martelli, the Tiger defense of Dee Okunowo, John Yu, Nick Wynne, Joseph Shea, and goalkeeper Nathan Bloom were all key in closing out the match, and giving the Tigers the win. Goalkeeper Nathan Bloom finished with 4 saves in the game.
The Hargrave Varsity Soccer Team (2-0 overall, 2-0 conference) will travel next week to Holy Cross for their next scheduled match-up.
