YCMS 4, Harris MS 1

Weds, September 26, 2007




The shadows were lengthening in Spruce Pine as the Cougars visited Harris Middle School one last time this season.





The teams seemed more evenly matched this time as the Cougars did not find the net until the 10th minute when Eduardo's drive clipped the underside of the crossbar and went in. In the 27th minute Juan turned a fine left footed drive into the Cougars second goal (a shot that also hit the crossbar but went in). Yancey took a 2-0 lead into halftime.


The Cougars came out determined to put the game out of reach and scored in quick succession in the 36th and 37 th minutes.




Mr. Powell allowed his younger players to play the last 20 minutes. These guys played hard and the forward combination of Luke, Christian, and Jacob Jones had several good runs, while Joe, Cortland, Jacob Hughes, and Charles worked hard in the midfield. Harris did get one goal back to make the final score Yancey 4, Harris 1.

YCMS 5, Avery MS 2

This game was rescheduled and Luke had an orthodondist appointment and could not make the road trip up to Avery.

I called Mr. Powell after the game to get the score. He said the team played well. He put a different goalie in (I forget who) to give them a taste of how hard the goalie position is. Ron said he had to settle the team down as they tried to play several long balls rather than concentrating on shorter, crisper passes.

The Cougars remain undefeated and have a goal differential of +34 (49 For, 15 Against).

YCMS 7, Asheville MS 3

Thursday September 20, 2007



This rematch was supposed to be a replay of the tough, gritty, 4-2 victory the Cougars earned at Asheville's home field the week before. Instead, with his full compliment of players available, Mr. Powell coached the Cougars to a relatively easy 7-3 win over Asheville.

Having Clay back in goal allowed Juan to play his natural position and the Cougars were able to put more skill in more places than Asheville.



The score was 7-1 when Coach Powell subbed in his younger players. A poorly decided handball call allowed Asheville to score on a penalty kick, and after Mr. Powell switched goalies Asheville scored a meaningless goal.




Overall, Yancey completely dominated this game from start to finish and played a complete game both offensively and defensively.

YCMS 4, Harris MS 1

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
A taste of fall in the air as the Cougars travelled to Spruce Pine to rematch Harris. The Cougars were without Dalton. Luke had earned a starting spot this week due to his hard work during practice.

The Cougars went to goal three times in the first half. Scoring on the 16th, 22nd, and 28th minutes. Goalkeeper Clay did not have to stop a single Harris shot as the Cougars ended the first half up 3-0, a score which would have been higher if not for several offside calls against the Cougars.

The Harris keeper was kept busy in the second and she stopped numerous shots, and those she didn't stop were either hitting the crossbar or flying just wide of the mark.

Mr. Powell encouraged his defenders to boom the ball forward and Martin did just that as he launched an amazing shot about 4o yards out from goal that found the back of the net.

Several of the Yancey defenders decided to carry the ball forward and eventually got caught out of position when Harris cleared a long ball that found one of their big forwards who scored ball one on one against Isreal in goal.

Yancey will face a tough challenge on Thursday when Asheville Middle School visits Burnsville.

Go Cougars!
(PS - Didn't have my camera again today as my wife is still traveling)

YCMS 4, Asheville MS 2

Thursday, September 14, 2007. At Asheville.

I didn't have my camera as my wife took the digital on her trip, but I did get to attend the game.

The game was much more intense than the 4-2 score might suggest.

The teams were tied 1-1 at the half; Asheville having scored first and Yancey equalizing.

The Cougars kept the ball in Asheville's third for much of the second half. After the 4th or 5th strong run, the Cougars were rewarded with a goal to go up 2-1. Then, things got weird.

Asheville got a breakaway. Our defender was even with the man with the ball. The ball carrier took a shot which Juan stopped beautifully. Another Asheville player then slammed into Juan (the 2nd hard collision that Juan had to endure). The ref blew the whistle. We in the stands thought "good..penalty for roughing our goalie". WRONG. The ref called an illegal pass back to the goalie on the Cougars. Asheville was awarded an indirect kick about 5 yards outside of the goal. The Cougars quickly lined up a wall, but the tap then shot went in to tie the score 2-2. Very odd play as it certainly looked like the Asheville player shot the ball and Juan stopped the shot (then got creamed). But, alas, that's soccer.

The Cougars were so eager to correct the situation that they ran to the circle and kicked off, beating the ref to the spot by about 30 seconds, and resumed play. The ref did take kindly to this and called all the players back to the circle to "wait on him". On the kickoff, Santiago took the ball deep down Asheville's left side and won a corner. Santi then launched a beautiful looping corner to the center of the goal about two yards in front where Brian Krause turned the ball into the goal. BAM! Cougars back in front...to stay. Asheville's will sagged a little as a roar went up from the Yancey players and fans.

After some tough defense, the ball found Victor about 15 yards out from Asheville's line. Victor fired a shot on goal which an Asheville defender tried to head away, but instead, headed the ball into his own net. Cougars 4-2.

Yancey stood toe to toe for 5 more minutes of frantic soccer to secure the 4-2 win.

Impressive win for the Cougars in what was by far their most intense challenge. Asheville had enough player to have two squads of ten players, with very little dropoff in talent between their two sides. All of coach Powell's players played with guts and determination. Can't wait for the rematch in Burnsville next week!

YCMS 3, AveryMS 0

Monday, September 10, 2007

At Avery. I didn't get to attend this game as I had to work in Asheville, but the Cougars continued their unbeaten streak by beating avery 3-0.

YCMS 5, Avery MS 2

The Cougars played host to Avery and jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead.














Avery got a goal back off of corner kick to make the score 2-1 at the half.














The Cougars started the second half strong and pushed out to a 4-1 lead.














Avery got a goal back to make the score 4-2.














The Cougars got the last goal and the win, 5-2.















Next Game: Monday, September 20, 2007 at Avery.