By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The results for Western Alamance’s boys’ soccer team haven’t been all that glowing, but Warriors coach Camden Brooks said there has been good growth in the first segment of the season.
“Getting the guys ready for a long season,” Brooks said. “I try to tell them not to get their heads down. There are a lot of positives to take.”
Western Alamance dropped to a 1-4 record with Monday night’s 3-1 home loss to Asheboro. That was another game in a non-conference gauntlet that Brooks said will make the Warriors better.
Western has taken on a challenging schedule, with one-goal defeats to Class 4-A teams East Chapel Hill, Northwest Guilford, and Greensboro Grimsley. Asheboro has one of the top Class 3-A teams in the state a season after reaching the state semifinals.
“This game was back-and-forth,” Brooks said after the Asheboro game. “The first 20 minutes I felt like we were on them.”
The Warriors scored first on Luis Guerrero’s goal less than three minutes into the game. Asheboro pulled even on Diego Bustamante’s goal before halftime.
The Blue Comets scored on Bustamante’s penalty kick with 23:21 remaining and on Ozmar Martinez’s penalty kick with 10:22 remaining.
Only two seniors – Trot Dalton and Lucas Dumayne – were in Western’s starting lineup for the Asheboro game. Striker Konner Johnson, the team co-leader with two goals, had to sit out because of a red card in the previous game.
Western, which won the 2021 state title and then went 15-5-2 last year, could benefit from these early tests. Goalkeeper Eamon Hipps has averaged 10 saves per game.
“We’re the underdogs in these games right now,” Brooks said. “We’re having to match the intensity of these other teams We’re expecting (to have a strong season). We can build from these games, that’s what we’re hoping.”
