A strong first half performance pushed CCS over the CSAS Patriots, 2-0, but second half woes by the Chargers leaves room for improvement before district play begins.
For the first 30 minutes of action, the Chargers leapt out all over the CSAS midfield and defense. Charger midfielder Lyndon Tucker led the charge as his presence forced the Patriots to play on their heels.
“We had a good weekend after playing some good teams and had some good outcomes with them, so we wanted to keep that mentality and energy up,” said Tucker. “We knew the other team (CSAS) was good, so if we wanted to win, we would have to win it with high energy.”
The pressure boiled over as a CSAS conglomerate of back post defenders would concede an own goal in the 11th minute following a CCS corner.
A free kick in the 17th minute provided the Patriots an opportunity to bounce back. The CCS goalkeeper rushed to collect the sailing cross from the kick but would lose the battle to CSAS’s Shrish Sharma. Sharma’s shot bent like a hooked fishing rod into the top corner of the goal but would be headed out by CCS’s Urban Tucker—a save by the defender.
As disbelief echoed through the Patriot bench, the Chargers pushed on the counterattack. Lyndon Tucker was at the forefront, yet again. His shot, sprawling from left to right, would tuck itself into the bottom 90-degree angle of the post and in for CCS’s second goal of the early night.
That is when CSAS head coach Wes Castle began implementing formation changes for the Patriots. They moved into a 4-3-3 set to add an extra defender, and the change stonewalled the Charger attack as the Patriots began to mount offensive possessions.
“The takeaway here was our resilience,” said Castle following the game. “When you get down two goals you drop your head and stop playing, and then you allow up to five or six goals. We stayed in it, and I felt we were evenly matched in the second half.”
“I felt like if we had gotten a goal then we would have had a momentum shift. They won the first half, but we held the ball more in the second half.”
Ultimately, that goal would not come for the Patriots.
The second half performance was not to the liking of CCS head coach Warren Smith.
“We try to find each other and when we did that, we had a nice goal, but we did not do that enough to control the game from start to finish,” said a frustrated Smith. “We don’t value the ball. We give it up in bad places time and time again.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t score on us because we were giving them opportunities.”
Nonetheless, Smith and the Chargers are up to 2-1-1 on the season following the win. The Patriots intend to work from their first loss of the season (3-1) before hosting Hixson on Friday, March 24.
Game Summary
CSAS 0 0 — 0
CCS 2 0 — 2
Goal Scorers: CCS (1) Lyndon Tucker; Own Goal by CSAS.