Men's Soccer recap

By Kimothy Jones

William Peace University VS. Piedmont

This past Saturday, after suffering a defeat at the hands of Maryville the day prior, the William Peace men’s soccer team tried to tame the Piedmont Lions. A slightly better effort, but same result for the Pacers, as they lose 5-1

“Much better effort today out of the men,” said head coach Zane Hill. Good defensive pressure and overall attitude.  “Positives were players were able to log more minutes and were able to show their ability in different positions.  Some of the guys really are coming into their own and stepping up.” 

The Pacers had nine shots on goal, but could only covert one of them into a score. That goal came from Joel hall in the 61^st minute that actually tied the game, 1-1, as his shot deflected off the goalie and a defender before finding the back of the net.

“Joel made a very hard run and was at the right place at the right time.  He was able to deflect the ball into the goal,” Hill added.

Despite leading just 1-0 at the half and relinquishing their lead on Hall’s goal, Piedmont was much more successful in the second as Robert Herbert scored two goals ten minutes apart in the 63^rd and 73^rd minutes. His first goal was assisted by Vincent Thomas, and the second was unassisted. Cole Little finished off Piedmonts scoring with a goal assisted by Matthew Metzger in the 83^rd minute.

“In the second half, the other team was able to capitalize.  After a key injury to our back line they scored minutes later and we could not stop the bleeding,” explained Hill. 

WPU (2-4, 0-2 USA) will have a week off to prepare for their next set of conference games next weekend and hope to tighten things up during their non-conference match with Chowan next Tuesday.

“Plugging players into the right spots that show promise and consistency is something we hope will result in some positive outcomes going forward,” said Hill. 

The Pacers face Chowan Tuesday at 2:00 PM before returning to Wake Med soccer park next Saturday to host their first-ever USA South match against LaGrange. Kick-off is at 2:00 PM.