One of the three first half goals for North Adams in their win at Eastern Brown on Monday came on a penalty kick from Garrett Bunn. (Photo by Tim Daulton)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After suffering a season opening 2-0 loss to Zane Trace on Saturday, Aug. 21, Coach Ike Wooten and his North Adams Green Devils varsity boys soccer squad were back in action on Monday, Aug. 23, facing a tough road trip to Eastern Brown to tangle with the Warriors in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action.
Monday turned out to be a bounce-back day for the Devils as they picked up their first win of the season and opened conference play with an important “W”, hanging on to defeat the host Warriors by a final score of 3-2.
The Devils got off to a quick start at Eastern Brown, racking up three goals in the game’s first 20 minutes to take what looked like a commanding three-goal advantage, which turned out not to be the case. The first North Adams score came from Hunter Brown on an assist from Cody Hesler, and a later successful penalty kick from Garrett Bunn made it 2-0. Hesler was again credited with an assist on the third North Adams goal, this one off the foot of Cameron Campbell. With keeper Trey Hoop holding off the Warriors, the Devils took that three-goal lead into the intermission.
According to C0ach Wooten the entire second half was a defensive battle, but the only scores of the half belonged to the home team as a a pair of long clears from the Warrior defense led to one-on-one situations and resulted in two Eastern goals.
“We came out ready to play but we let off the gas and Eastern took advantage,” said Coach Wooten. “I’m pleased with the way we are moving the ball but we have work to do on defense. We have a young and inexperienced group that will require on-the-job training to get where we want to be.”
The Devils were scheduled to be back in action on Thursday, Aug. 26, going on the road for a non-conference affair at Portsmouth Clay. On Saturday (Aug. 28) it will again be a non-conference road game for Coach Wooten’s troops as they cross county lines to face the Western Brown Broncos.
