Eric Jessup is a glass-half-full type of guy.
The North Surry boys soccer team dropped a home match to Forbush on Wednesday by a score of 4-1. The loss moves North to 2-6 on the season, but Jessup isn’t focused on that.
“We’re playing well and we’re competing against really good teams,” he said. “We had opportunity after opportunity there in the last 20 minutes, but we just couldn’t find the net. We got beat by this same team 10-1 last time, and tonight it was 2-1 with about 22 or 23 minutes left.”
Playing in the top-heavy Western Piedmont 2A Conference, headlined by two teams yet to lose a game and another with just one loss, North Surry’s had to adapt its game plan midway through the season.
After spending most of the season on the road up to this point, Jessup’s Greyhounds ended with four-straight home matches on the schedule. During this time, the Hounds have slowed the pace of their matches and seen better results than the first time around.
North Surry held North Forsyth, the No. 5-ranked team in the state, to a one-goal lead for more than an hour on Feb. 24 after falling 8-0 back on Feb. 4.
The same was true against the Falcons. Forbush went off for 10 goals against the Greyhounds back on Feb. 8, so change was necessary when the Falcons came to Toast.
“They’re really good at their place, but they have to make adjustments when they go on the road,” Jessup said.
North played at a methodical pace and used its experience playing inside Charles Atkins Stadium to its advantage. The Hounds’ home field is narrower than many other local pitches.
Forbush took an early 1-0 lead off a goal from Juan Ramirez. Ramirez’s goal came in the eighth minute, but neither team would score again in the first half.
The Falcons (4-1-2) earned a penalty kick in the first half, but put the shot off target.
Goalkeeper Tristen Shore and the Greyhound defense kept Forbush scoreless for another 42 minutes of game time before Sergio Sesmas slipped a shot into the goal. Sesmas took a through-ball to break the North Surry back line, and placed a shot to his left. The shot hit the inside of the goal post and rolled in to increase the lead to 2-0.
North Surry played defensively most of the first half, but moved into attack mode after the second goal. James Jessup immediately had the Hounds in the Falcons’ third with a long throw in. The senior found Johnny Lopez open inside the 18-yard box, but Lopez’s shot was saved.
Forbush’s athletic back line of Ben Trivette, Joe Salazar, Mason St. John and Gio Jimenez was an intimidating force that kept North Surry from penetrating via dribbling, so the Hounds utilized speed on through-balls.
In the 55th minute, Jair Gonzalez sent a through ball on the ground for Hector Hernandez. Hernandez ran the pass down, cut back to his left and fired a shot into the net.
Hernandez retrieved his own shot from the back of the net and sprinted to midfield in hopes of maintaining North Surry’s momentum. However, Forbush quickly made its way into North territory and earned a corner kick in the 58th minute.
The corner was deflected out of the Greyhound box and onto the foot of Forbush’s Joe Salazar. Salazar chipped the defense to set Ryan Zachary up with a goal.
Salazar earned his second assist of the evening three minutes later when he set up a Ramirez header, putting the Falcons up 4-1.
The Greyhounds were still in the fight. Edwin Villegas sent a free kick in the 24th minute from midfield to the six-yard line. Forbush’s keeper punched the ball out, and Salvador Rodriguez jumped on the rebound but sent the shot over the crossbar.
Five minutes later, Arturo Valle surprised the Falcons with a shot from the near sideline that drew the keeper out of the goal. North went to take advantage of the open net, but the ball was kicked out for a corner instead. Jimmy Burnett got a good look off the corner, but it was saved.
Both Villegas and McKinnely Nixon had quality looks in the final minutes of the match, but couldn’t convert.
“We’re competitive, we’re just not putting the ball in the net,” Jessup said.
Coach Jessup was optimistic after seeing the team’s vast improvement from the first meeting with Forbush. Jessup said the Greyhounds are improving every match, which is all he can ask for.
The shortened season means North didn’t have time to experiment with different lineups during non-conference games. But Jessup isn’t using that as an excuse.
“Everybody’s in the same boat and I’m just glad to be having a season for these guys,” he said. “Short season or not, I’m just happy they’re getting to play, because six months ago I was sitting there thinking there was no way we were playing anything this year.”
North Surry hosts Atkins (4-4-1) on March 8 for Senior Night, then the Hounds will close the season with a make-up game against Surry Central on March 11.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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