The Cougars made long road trip to Swannanoa to take on ACA and came away winners 3-1.
Yancey started rather slow and were kept on their heels somewhat by a pressing ACA squad who moved with quickness and sharp passing. However, ACA was never able to mount a serious threat as the back line of Tyler Byrd, Martine and Tristan, with Tim playing in front of them, kept the ball out of our box.
The Cougars opened the scoring when Martine rushed up to take a free kick, about 10 yards inside the Yancey half. The ball went just over the head of a tall ACA defender, who had been heading away every long ball, and fell at the feet of Gabriel who raced ahead and beat the keeper to make give Yancey a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars were more focussed for the next 15 minutes and made numerous runs at the ACA box. Luke crashed the goal on a Yancey corner and just missed adding to his goal total. Likewise the ACA keeper made several good saves. The Cougars took their slim lead into the half.
The second half started with Yancey dominating possession and Eduardo driving across the top of the Asheville box to launch a rocket into the far corner to give Yancey a 2-0 lead.
ACA pressed hard, pushing the ball up the wings and making good, long, diagonal passes. Several times, Yancey defenders were beaten and committed lazy, stupid fouls resulting in several free kicks and a yellow card for Martine. They Yancey wall held up several times and denied Asheville a goal.
About midway through the second, an Asheville striker got on the end of an excellent through ball, got behind Martine, and beat Nester, who remained standing on the goal line. Nester needs to learn to come out on the shooter on breakaways.
Several times in the second half, I was struck by two of the Yancey palyers' reluctance to pass the ball. They seemed only interested in carrying the ball as far as they could. I hope next year, in high school, they have this predisposition drilled out of them.
In the last 5 minutes, Yancey pushed hard and Tim got on the end of a loose ball about 20 yards out and stroked a beautiful side footed shot into the far corner to give Yancey a comfortable 3-1 lead.
Yancey is 7-2-2 and will face Apple Valley, in Hendersonville, in the season finale this Wednesday.
Excellent job Cougars!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Yancey Wins Conference Championship!!!
On a COLD, overcast day in Newland (shocking, I know!), the Cougars captured their umpteenth straight Toe River Conference Championship by defeating the Avery Panthers 2-0 on the Panthers' home (artificial) field.
Our Cougars started off rather slow, maybe due to the 50 degree temperatures and brisk wind, as Avery dominated the first 8-9 mintues. That time period saw the Cougars called for multiple fouls and Avery had several chances to score. Timely defending and good goalkeeping kept Avery off the scoreboard.
Into the later 15 mintues, Luke was driving the ball upfield when he was fouled. The ref awarded the free kick and Martine drove the ball toward the goal. The ball eventually fell to Gabriel who punched past the Avery keeper to put the Cougars up 1-0. This goal defiitely settled Yancey down as the Cougars began to dominate possession and field position.
In the last 5 minutes of the half, the Cougars were awarded another free kick, resulting from an Avery foul. The ball was spotted on the Cougars' half of the field. Once again Martine launched a monster kick toward the Avery goal. One of the Avery defenders headed the ball down but Gerardo was able to get a foot on to beat the keeper, making the score 2-0 Yancey, which the Cougars took into the half.
Mr. Powell huddled the team outside of the field house, trying to find some relief from the wind.
The second half started much like the first, with Avery pressing and the officials awarding them numerous free kicks. Nester played solid goalie and kept the ball out of the back of the net several times.
As time wore on, the Cougars again began to dominate possession and field position. All the boys were playing hard, fighting for 50-50 balls. Avery needs to evaluate their program when playing home games. They provided one ball boy, who stayed on the team's side of the field. No one was patrolling the opposite side and no one was patrolling the ends. The Cougars were able to burn valuable minutes simply by retrieving balls that had been kicked out of bounds. Overall, Yancey dominated the second half and our guys erupted in cheers as the horn sounded and the ref blew the final whistle.
Final score - Yancey 2, Avery 0.
This team carried on the tradition of excellence that is Yancey Middle School soccer. They represented their school and themselves well with hard work and determination. The Cougars play two additional non-conference games next week when they travel to Apple Valley and Asheville Christian Academy.
Well Done Yancey!!!
---
Once again, Luke played with determination and pride. He fought for possession, carried the ball up field several times, set up his teammates with good passes and played hard defense, stopping several potential runs.
Our Cougars started off rather slow, maybe due to the 50 degree temperatures and brisk wind, as Avery dominated the first 8-9 mintues. That time period saw the Cougars called for multiple fouls and Avery had several chances to score. Timely defending and good goalkeeping kept Avery off the scoreboard.
Into the later 15 mintues, Luke was driving the ball upfield when he was fouled. The ref awarded the free kick and Martine drove the ball toward the goal. The ball eventually fell to Gabriel who punched past the Avery keeper to put the Cougars up 1-0. This goal defiitely settled Yancey down as the Cougars began to dominate possession and field position.
In the last 5 minutes of the half, the Cougars were awarded another free kick, resulting from an Avery foul. The ball was spotted on the Cougars' half of the field. Once again Martine launched a monster kick toward the Avery goal. One of the Avery defenders headed the ball down but Gerardo was able to get a foot on to beat the keeper, making the score 2-0 Yancey, which the Cougars took into the half.
Mr. Powell huddled the team outside of the field house, trying to find some relief from the wind.
The second half started much like the first, with Avery pressing and the officials awarding them numerous free kicks. Nester played solid goalie and kept the ball out of the back of the net several times.
As time wore on, the Cougars again began to dominate possession and field position. All the boys were playing hard, fighting for 50-50 balls. Avery needs to evaluate their program when playing home games. They provided one ball boy, who stayed on the team's side of the field. No one was patrolling the opposite side and no one was patrolling the ends. The Cougars were able to burn valuable minutes simply by retrieving balls that had been kicked out of bounds. Overall, Yancey dominated the second half and our guys erupted in cheers as the horn sounded and the ref blew the final whistle.
Final score - Yancey 2, Avery 0.
This team carried on the tradition of excellence that is Yancey Middle School soccer. They represented their school and themselves well with hard work and determination. The Cougars play two additional non-conference games next week when they travel to Apple Valley and Asheville Christian Academy.
Well Done Yancey!!!
---
Once again, Luke played with determination and pride. He fought for possession, carried the ball up field several times, set up his teammates with good passes and played hard defense, stopping several potential runs.
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