YCMS 7, Harris MS 1

August 30, 2007

The Cougars finally came home and did not disappoint the fans as they dominated Harris from start to finish.















The score was 4-0 when I arrived with 5 minutes left in the first half.















Everyone got to play valuable minutes this afternoon. Players who normally focus on offense got to play some defense. Some of our defensive stoppers like Tim and Victor, got to spend some time up front.















In the second half Coach Powell displayed excellent sportsmanship when he pulled a player off and played with ten. Later the Cougars actually played several hard minutes nine vs eleven.















To their credit Harris never quit, their goalie made several good saves, and they earned a late goal off of a corner kick.















The Cougars head into the Labor Day break with a 4-0 record, three road wins, and a +16 goal differential (21 goals scored, 5 goals surrendered)

YCMS 6, NBMS 0

August 28, 2007
Playing their third straight road game, the Cougars traveled to north Weaverville to take on the Blackhawks in a last minute schedule addition. Mr. Powell warned that the Hawks would be tough, but the Cougars came ready to play.
This game included a bit of added drama in that former Cougar Zane Warner was wearing the captain's armband for his new school.
















For the first fifteen minutes, Yancey pushed hard but could not find the net. However, when Coach Powell moved Santiago and Isreal from defense up to striker, the game did not remain scoreless long. Dalton broke the deadlock when he pounced on a deflected shot and punched it past the keeper. On his third hard run, Isreal's shot clanged off the near post, crossed in front of the keeper onto Santiago's waiting foot who blasted the ball to the back of the net. A few minutes later, the Cougars won a corner. Santi' took the kick and bent it like "you know who" high into the far corner to give Yancey a 3-0 halftime lead.















The Cougars continued their tenacious 'D' into the second half, frustrating the Hawks at every turn. The Cougars scored two more times in the second to build a solid 5-0 lead.














Though Clay was rarely pressured, he did stop a cannon of a shot from Zane. After being smothered most of the game, the big guy finally found a little room on Hawk's left side and loosed rocket toward the goal. Clay was perfectly positioned and didn't give his former teammate an inch.














A bad day got worse for North Buncombe when one of their defenders played a beautiful header....into their own goal. The error made the score 6-0 and the Cougars finished strong to preserve the shutout.

YCMS 4, ACA 2

August 23, 2007
















It was a muggy afternoon in Swannanoa as the Cougars took on Asheville Christian Academy. When I arrived, the Cougars were ahead 2-1 about halfway through the first period. Isreal put the Cougars up 3-1 with a terrific breakaway goal to build a lead that the Cougars would take into halftime.















The ball spent the first 15 minutes of the second half in the cougar offensive end and the cougars went up 4-1 off a corner kick.
















ACA pushed hard for 10 minutes and were rewarded when their forward unleashed an unstoppable strike from outside the area.
















The Cougars played tough defense to seal the
win.

YCMS 4, Madison 2

Tuesday, August 2, 2007















A rainy afternoon in Madison turned sunny for the Cougars. Tied 1-1 at the half, the Cougars dominated the second, keeping the ball in the Madison defensive third for most of the first twenty minutes. Numerous attempts on goal, good runs, and good passing finally paid off when Eduardo drilled a shot past the keeper for a 2-1 lead, which became a 3-1 advantage after Luis finished off a great diagonal pass from Christian.















Down two goals with less than five minutes remaining, Madison turned on the pressure and scored a late goal that just slipped under goalkeeper Clay to make the score 3-2. Several minutes of tough defending remained for the Cougars as Madison pushed all of their players into the attacking half of the field. The Patriot's gamble turned unlucky as a long clearence by Tim Hensley found Isreal who raced downfield to score a beautiful solo goal to make the final score Cougars 4, Patriots 2.















Great opening road win for East Yancey.