Soccer: First-half goal holds up as Huron edges Greenhills
Before Huron faced Greenhills in a non-league soccer game on Thursday, one of the River Rats said to a teammate: “For some reason I get the feeling this is going to be a game where goals are hard to come by.”
He certainly was correct as the River Rats and Gryphons played a low-scoring and defensive game on the pitch – and a well-played game as well. Huron scored late in the first half and that would be the only goal in the game as the River Rats won 1-0 over a very good Greenhills side.
“I was satisfied with the way the players performed,” said Huron Coach Luis Gomez. “Our team goal coming into this game was to build on our performance against Salem. We kept our defensive shape, forced turnovers, and kept possession for long periods of time against Greenhills.”
During the last 10 minutes of the first half, Huron pushed hard for a goal. Sophomore Riley Maciejevski got played through Greenhills’ backline and rounded the goalkeeper. He connected with sophomore Djimo Kouyate inside of the box but his shot was saved from the goal line by a Greenhills defender. A few minutes later, Kouyate scored his first varsity goal directly from a corner kick.
“Djimo is a talented player that we are excited about,” said Gomez. “He does an excellent job on the field with his play and off the field he has the qualities to be a leader within our program. You will often see him giving freshmen or JV players advice. He is one of the sophomores we have high hopes for.”
Senior Patrick Tibbets and junior Elliot Goebel split time in goal to earn the shutout.
“Elliot had to make a few catches in traffic during set pieces and corners,” Gomez said. “The backline did an excellent job protecting the goal from getting attacked.”
