Galleries by Tina Laney
Tuesday night Raleigh County was the scene of two heavyweight boys soccer showdowns.
The turf at H.B. Thomas Field was the site where Shady Spring entertained Princeton, while across town at Paul Cline Stadium, Beckley welcomed Cabell Midland.
Although each game was highly competitive, the end result was a hard fought 1-1 draw on both sides of the county.
The tussle between the Tigers kicked off first with the visitors from Mercer County taking the early lead.
Just 10 minutes into the match, freshman sensation Bryson Pritchett work his way on the end of Jake Sull’s corner kick for a 1-0 lead.
“We have worked on a couple of set pieces, but we hadn’t scored one all season,” Princeton head coach Erick Burgess said. “That was nice to see us click on one of those.”
The duo worked their magic flawlessly as if they were the only two players on the pitch at that moment.
“It was a little frustrating that they had a totally free runner on the corner,” Shady Spring head coach Josiah Smith said. “It was an excellent finish and an excellent ball. All credit goes to Princeton. They are an athletic team with a lot of skilled players.”
Shady Spring refused to be rattled by the early netter and responded in kind in the 29th minute. Micah Smith ripped a shot that slipped through the Princeton keeper for a 1-1 tie which held until the half.
The visitors applied the initial pressure in the second half, but could not beat Shady Spring keeper Jack Billeter who had four solid saves to keep the match even.
“Jack is a phenomenal goal keeper and he is growing leaps and bounds. He is understanding what we need in certain situations,” Smith said about his sophomore goalie. “He has always been a great shot stopper, athletic and nimble. He has added some quality there, but he is also much smarter about his positioning.”
The last 30 minutes belonged mainly to the Raleigh County Tigers who applied heavy pressure. Princeton also did its part to make its road down the stretch a bumpy ride on defense.
Over a stretch of three minutes, Shady Spring had a corner, a solid look that went high over the bar and three direct kicks from roughly 30 yards out.
None of them found the mark.
“Every coach wants to see the team put away opportunities. I think we had opportunities and yes we didn’t capitalize on those chances,” Smith said. “All in all I am not frustrated with my guys. I am so proud of them for the way they played.”
The biggest opportunity for Shady came inside the final 20 minutes.
A red card left Princeton a man down for the final 19:12 of the half before a second red card left Princeton two-down with three minutes to play.
“Very frustrated. We lost our composure in that game and it showed,” Burgess said. “I thought we played really well for about 15 or 20 minutes and then we just quit playing well.”
Clearly frustrated by the events of the second half, Burgess was pleased with the players that held the game even over the difficult stretch.
“I don’t think there is any satisfaction when your players get red cards and go out of the game. That just shows a lack of discipline, but I am proud of the ones that stayed on the field,” Burgess said. “They played great and played hard to get the tie at least.”
Without a doubt, Shady Spring would have loved to have capitalized in the final 20 minutes, but Smith was still satisfied with the game.
“It was a very physical game. I was proud of how our team showed a lot of heart and hustle. They just battled from the beginning to the end,” Smith said. “Princeton is a team that I am happy to get a draw with. They are a triple-A program that had a really good postseason run last year. I think they will be competitive again this year.”
At Paul Cline Stadium the game went almost the same way, except it was the home team hitting the early goal. Hagen Hall worked the magic off of Tyler Snyder’s corner for the 1-0 lead in the 10th minute.
Charlie Morrison evened the match for the Knights in the 29th minute for a 1-1 tie at the break.
Both teams had chances going forward, but neither could find the back of the net. The stretch was particularly frustrating for the Flying Eagles.
“We had more everything tonight, except for goals,” Beckley head coach Steve Laraba said. “I am not unhappy with the performance. We had a lapse there in the first half and they capitalized on that. Other than that we were dictating the play and we were able to create some chances.”
“We need to clean some things up in the attacking third of the field,” Laraba went on to say. “A couple of decisions and finishing some chances. It is positive though. We are improving daily.”
Cabell Midland (2-0-1) head coach Jimmie Smith was pleased with the overall result, especially holding the Flying Eagles to only one goal.
“I think it is a good result for us overall. Coming down here is a tough place to play. (Beckley) is a great program and they are contenders every year,” Smith said. “Earning a draw is nothing to be ashamed of. I think we weren’t our best tonight. We got luck at times and so did they. It was a good result overall.”
Beckley played Tuesday without two key pieces that were hurt in the draw at Morgantown a little over a week back.
“It is a little bit of the rhythm. We are without two starters in A.J. Bishop and Tyler Radford,” Laraba said. “We have some people playing out of position a little bit. When we are able to get one of those guys back, we can get back to our true shape.”
Laraba also gave credit to the visitors for what they brought to the field.
“Midland is a good team that is well coached. They had a plan and they had a shape,” Laraba said. “We just didn’t take advantage of our set pieces and other scoring opportunities. We will work on that.”
Beckley (0-1-2) is back in action Thursday when it heads to Fayette County to battle longtime rival Oak Hill.
“It is a sectional game and a local rival,” Laraba said. “Hopefully we can go there and get a positive result to get the sectional games off to a good start.”
