Playing for the first time in over a week, the Washington soccer team held strong against New Bern until the second half when the Bears strung together three goals to top the Pam Pack 3-0 on Tuesday.
With Hurricane Irene wreaking havoc on the area last weekend, Washington coach Jimmy Kozuch and his crew had not been able to practice in over seven days, and though the team played strong, it ran out of gas in the second half.
“We were tired, we had a lot of guys winded tonight,” Kozuch said. “But, we got to get back to work and get our conditioning up.”
Before Irene struck, Washington (0-2) opened up the season with a loss to New Bern, and on Tuesday the team put forth a better outing in the rematch.
“We probably haven’t practiced in about 10 or 11 days. We had one practice after (New Bern) beat us 6-1,” Kozuch said. “But, we came out and held them scoreless in the first half and that was good.”
Washington played hard throughout the game but went through a tough stretch at the beginning of the second half that it put the team in a whole it could not climb out of.
“We broke down a little bit and gave them three quick goals back-to-back-to-back,” Kozuch said. “But other than that, our defense looked a lot better. We still have a lot to work on offensively, but defensively we looked a lot better.”
That defense was sharp in the first stanza as it was able to keep the Bears off the scoreboard.
“Our whole defensive shape was a lot better than it has been,” Kozuch said. “We stayed in our positions and we marked very well. In the second half we got winded and a couple of key players got nicked up.”
While the defense looked strong, Kozuch said the offense still has a lot of work to do.
“Right now we’re looking for someone to step up and score some goals for us,” Kozuch said. “We have a couple of guys that have potential, but we’re waiting for it to happen.”
Kozuch said there were several players that gave a solid effort against the Bears.
“Sylvester Bolivar played well. Coleman Smithwick is a senior this year and he has really stepped up as a leader and Seth Correl really stepped up for us and made some big saves,” Kozuch said.
In the JV game, Washington won 2-0 as Alex Donadio and Sergio Higuera scored goals.
Washington will be back in action on Thursday when it plays at J.H. Rose.