James Kenan’s Lincoln Meza (17) knocks Charles B. Aycock’s Gabriel Payne off the ball during opening-half action Thursday evening at Hardy Talton Stadium in Pikeville. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
PIKEVILLE — James Kenan doesn’t current look like the team that averaged eight goals an outing and posted four straight shutouts since the soccer season started.
The Tigers find themselves on a two-game skid.
Adrian Salazar delivered the game-winning goal midway through the opening half and lifted Charles B. Aycock to a 1-0 victory at Hardy Talton Stadium.
“The biggest thing I’m disappointed with is the lack of teamwork,” Kenan head coach Mitchell Quinn said. “When I say teamwork, [it’s] the players on the field not listening to the coaches on the sideline. That’s the biggest thing.
“I think they wanted it a little bit more than we did and proved it. They were getting to the ball a whole lot quicker than we were getting to the ball. They’ve got some speed, and we’ve got some speed, too.”
Aycock’s defense shut down the midfield.
The Tigers couldn’t connect passes, which prevented them from stretching the defense and knocking the ball into open space for their strikers. The Golden Falcons (5-4-0 overall) consistently won second balls and created counter attacks that kept Kenan keeper Emerson Gomez busy.
Gomez logged seven saves on his stat sheet. Two CBA shots hit the crossbar, while five other attempts were not on frame.
His only hiccup occurred on Salazar’s goal. He came too far off his line, dove to deflect the shot and the junior knocked it into an empty net.
It was Salazar’s fourth goal of the season and the fourth allowed by Kenan’s defense in its last two games.
“We’ve got to get that ball out of the box anyway,” Quinn said. “It’s a lucky break for them. He happened to be in the right spot at the right time and took advantage of it.”
Up 1-0 at halftime, play got chippy in the second half.
The teams combined for four yellow cards – three by Kenan and one by CBA.
The Golden Falcons clogged the 18-yard box as time ticked down. Defensive clears and superb work by junior net-minder Gabe Pena kept James Kenan off the board.
Pena collected nine saves and filed his second clean sheet of the season.
Quinn credited CBA for its physicality.
However, he hoped his team would regain its composure after a two-goal loss against Clinton on Monday.
“I wanted to see poise and just get back to playing our game,” Quinn said. “The last 45 or 50 minutes over there at Clinton, we were kind of out of synch and we didn’t get into it tonight, either, so that’s something we’ve got to work on.”
According to records kept on MaxPreps, the Tigers are 39-7-6 all-time against Wayne County schools since 2010. That includes an 0-1-1 worksheet against the Golden Falcons.
James Kenan (4-2-0) overall continues a three-game road swing next Tuesday at East Duplin. It’s the East Central 2A opener for both teams.
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
