WCHS soccer routs Warriors

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Pioneer Alex Guthrie draws a crowd of Warrior defenders in the first half of the Pioneers’ 6-1 win Friday night at WCHS. Guthrie was injured on the play, but the extent of his injuries are still unknown. (Dale Stubblefield photo)

The Warren County Senior High School soccer team exploded for six goals Friday night against White County taking a 6-1 Homecoming victory.

Warren County controlled much of the first half with good ball movement by its attackers. With 32 minutes on the clock the Pioneers’ Totsura Kusunoki scored on a rebound after Alex Guthrie rang a shot off the crossbar. WCHS didn’t waste anytime in scoring its second goal of the night, when Ben Gretzinger with 27 minutes on the clock took a deflection off a White County defender and drove the ball past goalie Matt Cotton for a 2-0 game.

White County never gave Pioneer goalie Matt George much concern, as he had only two shots fired at him in the first half, turning away both goal attempts.

The Pioneers weren’t finished with their offensive attack in the first half, however. Oscar Rodriguez put WCHS up 3-0 when his shot sailed into the net with 4:12 left in the half.

“We made some good passes in the first half and did a good job on defense but we have to keep the pressure on and keep pushing the ball,” said coach Charlie Hardee.

Warren County scored quick to open the second half when Kusunoki fired a shot from close range for his second goal of the night, giving the Pioneers a 4-0 lead.

The Pioneers had a minor breakdown on defense and had trouble getting back into position, and with 27 minutes on the clock, Warrior John Merrell took advantage of the mistake and fired on goal to give White County its first and only goal of the game.

The Pioneers got back into their offensive game, and Norberto Luis scored with 23:14 on the clock for the Pioneers’ fifth goal of the night.

White County tried to get some type of offense going, but had only five shots at goal in the second half. The Pioneers added to their lead with 11:15 on the clock, as Gretzinger scored his second goal of the night to provide the final margin of victory.

George had two saves on the night while teammate Jonathan Bratcher picked up five saves in the second half. The Pioneers had 26 shots at goal for the game, with White County taking seven.

“We are getting better and did a good job tonight,” Hardee said. “We pretty much dominated the game but had a few breakdowns on defense.

“We changed a few things tonight and hopefully we learned from our mistakes. Overall I’m very pleased with our effort.”