WHS blanks Titans

From staff reports

MARION — Watauga’s boys soccer team scored three first-half goals and the cruised to a 4-0 victory over McDowell in a Northwestern 4-A Conference showdown Monday night.

The Pioneers (4-4-1, 2-0 NWC) have outscored their last two opponents 12-0, having beaten South Caldwell 8-0 last week. However, they’ll face a much more formidable opponent Wednesday night when they host A.C. Reynolds at Jack Groce Stadium. Kickoff, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., follows the jayvee game.

“They have some very skillful players and they play well as a team,” Kidd said of A.C. Reynolds, which won the NWC championship last year. “They play with a lot of confidence and they believe they can beat anybody.”

Watauga had little problem beating McDowell (5-4, 0-2), which played much of the game with just 10 players on the field because of a red card issued in the first half. Trailing 1-0, a McDowell player was red-carded because he used his hand to stop a shot in the goal area.

That allowed Luke Robertson to score on a penalty kick 16 minutes into the game, and give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead. Just 11 minutes earlier, Robertson was used as a decoy off a corner kick from Ben Robertson. The ball went to Luke Danner, who scored on the play to give Watauga a 1-0 lead.

“It was a well executed play. Luke was the target and he let the ball go through,” Kidd said.

“We did what was called a ‘dummy’ and they bought in on it.”

Watauga got a break 36 minutes into the first half when Zach Greene mis-hit a crossing pass and it ended up hitting one of the goal posts and going into the McDowell net, giving the Pioneers a 3-0 halftime lead.

Luke Robertson added a goal, off an assist from Ben Robertson, in the 78th minute to finish off the scoring.

Watauga keeper Thomas Brown had four saves as the Pioneers outshot the Titans 15-4. The Pioneers turn their attention to Reynolds, which beat Freedom 2-1 in Morganton Monday night. The Rockets (7-1, 2-0) are ranked 15th in 4-A and feature a solid scoring tandem in Wilson Hood and Jacob Ariola.

Sammy Stone returns to give the Rockets good goaltending.

“Stone is a very strong keeper,” Kidd said. “He is one of many who are good players.”