Soccer team falls at McGavock

Looking for its second straight win, the Pioneer soccer team ran into a strong offensive squad Saturday in Nashville, as McGavock scored three goals in the second half on its way to a 4-1 win over Warren County.

WCHS, which fell to 1-4 with the loss, got strong play in goal from senior Matt George in the first half. Despite the Raiders’ aggressive offense, which kept the ball on the Pioneer end of the field for much of the contest, George held his composure and only allowed one McGavock shot to find the back of the net — a 30-yard kick by Ben Buckner 21 minutes into the first half.

Tatsuro Kusunoki tied the game with six minutes left in the half, taking a feed in the middle from David Bradshaw and lobbing a shot over the head of McGavock’s goalkeeper, Jacob Alford.

With the score tied at halftime 1-1, the Pioneers put Jonathan Bratcher in goal for the second half, and turned up their offensive pressure early.

But Bratcher was caught leaning the wrong way midway through the half, when Jamison Alford scored in a one-on-one situation with less than 14 minutes to play to give the Raiders a 2-1 advantage.

Alford struck again less than three minutes later, taking a long kick from the goalkeeper and driving it home to put his team up 3-1.

On a corner kick late in the half, Buckner tried to head the ball into the goal, but instead deflected it to teammate Armais Lupe, who scored to put McGavock on top by the eventual final score.

The Pioneers face a tough district opponent Tuesday, traveling to Cookeville for a 4 p.m. start.