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Jr. soccer settles for tie with Potomac, 0-0
Playing at home for the first time in weeks, the 2017 boy’s junior soccer squad turned in an impressive defensive performance against the Potomac panthers
Substitutions were at a premium on both sides; the Potomac squad had a short bench, while illness and injury had sidelined a number of Episcopal’s regular contributors. It was also the first game of the season with true fall weather; both teams looked sluggish at the starting whistle as they tried to overcome the chilly temperatures and short warmup time.
As the game progressed, strong contributions came as always from center middies Harrison Green ’20 and Brenton Smith ’21, who have settled nicely into their twin roles of ball distributor and aggressive disrupters of opponents who dare to attempt possession in the middle of the field. Their energy and some excellent sideline running from wings Max Wriedt ’21, Alex Koppenhaver ’21, Spencer Ashford ’20, and Case Sylvester ’21 opened up a number of opportunities, including a powerful blast from Wriedt that unfortunately went straight to the keeper’s chest. There were also multiple well-served corner kicks from Jackson Bauer ’21 and Charles Brossy ’21. The serves were on point, but our positioning wasn’t quite where it needed to be for a player to find himself in the right place at the right time.
Defensively, Episcopal had an outstanding performance against Potomac’s fast and skilled front line. Captain Hubert Wood ’20 stood out as the most active player on the field, serving as a one-man army that kept the panthers from anything close to an advance down the left-hand side of the field. With Wood and Henry McCall ’20 aggressively stepping to the ball on the outside, and Max Gregory’s '21 crafty execution of the offside trap in the middle, the Panthers were barely able to get a ball on frame all game, making it a pleasantly dull afternoon for keeper Patrick Zhu ’20.
Episcopal stepped up their intensity in the second half. The boys did a much better job of keeping their shape and moving the field with the ball, and they were rewarded with more possession time in the Potomac half and a number of very close chances. Brossy found himself with the ball around the PK line, but unfortunately sailed it over the net, and – on the closest chance of the game – Smith caught a ball from Green in stride, beat his defender into the right half of the box, and zipped a ball on the ground that was eight inches wide of the post. The boys battled hard, but just couldn’t get the conversion they needed. Potomac escaped with the tie.
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As the game progressed, strong contributions came as always from center middies Harrison Green ’20 and Brenton Smith ’21, who have settled nicely into their twin roles of ball distributor and aggressive disrupters of opponents who dare to attempt possession in the middle of the field. Their energy and some excellent sideline running from wings Max Wriedt ’21, Alex Koppenhaver ’21, Spencer Ashford ’20, and Case Sylvester ’21 opened up a number of opportunities, including a powerful blast from Wriedt that unfortunately went straight to the keeper’s chest. There were also multiple well-served corner kicks from Jackson Bauer ’21 and Charles Brossy ’21. The serves were on point, but our positioning wasn’t quite where it needed to be for a player to find himself in the right place at the right time.
Defensively, Episcopal had an outstanding performance against Potomac’s fast and skilled front line. Captain Hubert Wood ’20 stood out as the most active player on the field, serving as a one-man army that kept the panthers from anything close to an advance down the left-hand side of the field. With Wood and Henry McCall ’20 aggressively stepping to the ball on the outside, and Max Gregory’s '21 crafty execution of the offside trap in the middle, the Panthers were barely able to get a ball on frame all game, making it a pleasantly dull afternoon for keeper Patrick Zhu ’20.
Episcopal stepped up their intensity in the second half. The boys did a much better job of keeping their shape and moving the field with the ball, and they were rewarded with more possession time in the Potomac half and a number of very close chances. Brossy found himself with the ball around the PK line, but unfortunately sailed it over the net, and – on the closest chance of the game – Smith caught a ball from Green in stride, beat his defender into the right half of the box, and zipped a ball on the ground that was eight inches wide of the post. The boys battled hard, but just couldn’t get the conversion they needed. Potomac escaped with the tie.
