By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
It looks brighter for Western Alamance’s boys’ soccer team the past couple of weeks.
Then it became even better Monday night.
Rival Williams arrived for a Central 3-A Conference matchup, and before the midway mark of the first half, the Bulldogs were in a bind. A red card for a dangerous play reduced the number of their players on the field from 11 to 10.
The Warriors gladly converted in a 4-0 victory.
“We got hyped up,” Western midfielder Blake Bacchus said. “We took advantage of it.”
Both teams entered the game with 5-4 overall records and 2-0 marks in conference games, but the tone of the game clearly tilted in Western’s direction.
“With the card, we could start sending more (players on offense),” Western coach Camden Brooks said. “It definitely changed the dynamic of the game.”
Williams coach Jeremy Krist his team can learn from the unusual experience.
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“It definitely put a hurting on us,” Krist said of being a player down. “We had to change our mentality of how we play soccer.”
Western scored three times in the final six minutes of the first half. The first goal came when Boston Cornell’s penalty kick was blocked by Bulldogs goalkeeper Ian Kirk. But Cornell knocked in the rebound.
Konner Johnson scored the next goal before Luis Guerrero was credited with the third goal.
“I think we were staying on them pretty good,” Brooks said. “We had to keep our foot on the gas.”
Williams already was in a tough spot with five freshmen and four sophomores among its starters.
Johnson’s second goal of the game was the only scoring in the second half.
Kirk ended up with 11 saves.
Bacchus said the Western’s first shutout of the season was a bonus.
“We’re on a roll right now even though we’re still trying to figure some stuff out,” he said.
