Soccer: Improving Huron knocks off Monroe, Bedford in SEC games

Luis Gomez is trying to build something at Huron. The varsity head coach understands that Huron soccer won’t be built in a day and maybe even not in a season, but he also understands that the big picture could arrive soon especially considering his team’s talent and work ethic.

“We aren’t the biggest team (physically) in the conference but we are building our playing style around the players’ technical abilities,” says Gomez. “Games against senior-heavy teams like Pioneer, Skyline and Saline are going to provide fuel for my guys to work hard.”

The smaller and less experienced River Rats have struggled against the SEC big three – Skyline, Pioneer and Saline. But they are taking those experiences and applying them in other games.

WLAA HURON-PIONEER PHOTO GALLERY

For example, Huron hosted Monroe on Saturday and knocked off the Trojans 3-1. Djimo Kouyate continues his outstanding season. The junior forward had two goals and an assist in the victory. Junior midfielder Kantaro Inoki also scored for Huron.

On Tuesday night, the River Rats won 1-0 despite making some changes because of a busy schedule.

“It was the first of three games in a row, and we were able to put up a solid performance while resting a lot of our players,” Gomez said. “I brought up three players from JV: Marcus Gabor (M/10), Brady Grenier (D/10), and Amer Al-Ebidi (F/10). Two players from the freshman team also saw some action: Jack Regan (M/9) and Gavin Brooks (D/9).”

Huron’s goal was scored by Thai Binkley (M/11) after Nathan Sinkiewicz (F/10) was fouled in the box for a penalty kick. Junior Luke Hammond kept the clean sheet for Huron.