Gallery by Heather Belcher
The Beckley boys soccer team has been stout defensively so far this season.
Offensively, however, the Flying Eagles have had their fair of struggles.
Thursday night when Class AAA defending state champion Greenbrier East came to Raleigh County, Beckley had it working on both ends of the pitch.
Playing as the aggressor from the opening kick, Beckley scored two first half goals on its way to a 3-1 win over the Spartans.
“They are a team that doesn’t score a lot of goals, so when they do, they know they are excellent defensively and it gives them that much more confidence to do what they do best,” Greenbrier East head coach Lucas Lemine said. “They played a great game. I give them a lot of credit.”
Although the clash between the longtime rivals was only a regular season matchup, there was plenty on the line to motivate both teams.
“We are very thrilled with the win and happy with the overall performance,” Beckley head coach Steve Laraba said. “We had a few letdowns that let them get into the game, but it was one of those games where it is for local bragging rights. It is two top programs playing each other (for) sectional seeding. Playing at home means a lot.”
The first goal for the home team came in the 19th minute on a blast from Tyler Radford.
“We connected on some good passes and some good touches to get the ball down the field,” Radford said. “We hit a ball out wide and Michael Fayiah played it back to me. I just hit it without thinking.”
Radford is pulling double-duty in the fall, also doing the place-kicking for the Beckley football team, just like former teammate Connor Mollohan.
“Playing two (fall) sports is a lot, I will say that,” Radford said. “I am just trying to fill Connor’s shoes. He has helped me so much. Connor took me in like a brother and helped me a lot.”
Ten minutes later Coby Dillon found the back of the net thanks to a nice attack along the goal line by Jackson Gray.
“Jackson got the ball on the sideline, made a great play and beat the defender,” Dillon explained. He hit a cross in, but I didn’t think it was going to get there. The goalie tried to catch it, but he dropped it. The ball fell out, I hit it with my left foot and scored.”
When the halftime horn sounded, the Flying Eagles were up 2-0 and had not yielded a shot on frame in the first 40 minutes.
“Radford hit a rocket, then Jackson Gray had a great bit of individual skill on the goal line to get a really good ball in,” Laraba said. “Coby was right place, right time and buried it in the net.”
Although Beckley seemed to have the match under control, Ian Gadd changed the complexion of the match with a goal for the Spartans in the 62nd minute.
The goal also snapped a six-game shutout streak for the Beckley defense and sophomore keeper Bryson Doss.
“We lost our assignments and got caught there a little bit. We gave them that open shot, but Bryson’s feet got caught up underneath him. It was unfortunate,” Laraba said. “That was their first shot on goal in the entire game. To limit a team the quality of Greenbrier East to only two shots on target and very few attempts as a whole, that is not easy to do.”
Beckley sealed the win in the 74th minute on a set piece when Cooper Bell banged one home for the 3-1 margin.
“We played very well tonight from start to finish as team. Not one dude didn’t play well tonight,” Dillon said. “We practiced really hard and it showed tonight. I am proud of the whole team.”
The win gives Beckley (7-1-2) the No. 1 seed once sectional play rolls around, but the win also had other implications for the Flying Eagles.
“This was a very big win. (Greenbrier) East is a very good program. It is a rivalry game for multiple reasons, but we needed to beat a good team,” Laraba said. “We beat a good team tonight. We really did. I was very happy with how the boys responded to the moment and what everything meant. They knew we needed to go right from the start and make things happen.”
Lemine felt like his team weathered the early storm and was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We know they are going to come out quick and they did,” Lemine said. “We gave energy and effort. That is something we have been preaching to these kids all year long now. They gave it.”
“I am not frustrated with the performance,” Lemine went on to say. “It is a regular season game. We are going to be second-place in the section. We will focus on that first round game soon, but we have a game on Saturday and practice tomorrow like we always do. We will move forward.”
Beckley will host another sectional rival, Oak Hill, Thursday, while East (5-2-2) travels to St. Albans Saturday.
