HUNTINGTON— The Gateway Gators boys soccer team took home a 5-0 victory over the Match Charter Mountain Lions in the preliminary round of the MIAA Division 5 state tournament on Monday.
Before many fans in attendance could even find their seats, Gateway was generating offense. With some struggles finding the back of the net in recent games, the Gators looked to flip the script.
Senior captain Bow Briggs battled through the middle of the offensive end, getting the ball out into open space. Caiden Walker found himself in the right place at the right time, burying the ball into the twine under two minutes into the contest.
“Getting that first goal early is huge,” Gateway head coach Andrew McCaul said. “It builds your confidence, and a lot of times it doesn’t build the other team’s confidence, I’ll put it that way.”
The early offensive success was followed by some difficulty finding consistency. The Gators had just a couple of decent rushes that fizzled out quickly.
As time kept ticking down in the first half, Gateway looked to be playing to its identity: a solid defensive group that won by preventing the opponent from scoring. Weston Anderson was a strong presence on the backend, singlehandedly preventing many rushes up the left side.
Despite this, the Gators wanted to give themselves some insurance. The team expected to win coming into the game, but knew anything was possible in a state tournament setting.
“We’ve played some tough teams, so I felt like we were pretty prepared for the playoffs,” McCaul said. “… I don’t think we started off too well [Monday], pretty flat, but we started getting some momentum [at the end of the first half].”
Right before the end of the half, Callaghan Carter sprang Andrew Chepurenko up the pitch with a nice through-ball. Chepurenko finished the nice play off, and began his goal celebration before it quickly came to a halt after being told he was offside.
The tough break left the score at 1-0 in favor of Gateway after 40 minutes. During the break, McCaul made sure to keep his team focused and ensure they stayed patient.
In previous games this season, the team has struggled to finish games, but didn’t want to repeat that on Monday.
“You get anxious and everybody’s trying to kill the ball and hit it as hard as they can, where all it takes is just location,” McCaul said. “I was just saying, ‘you need to calm down. You need to take a breath when you’re in that final third, engage your brains and just do what you know you can.”
A big reason for McCaul’s confidence in a patient approach was the lack of fresh legs for Match Charter. With only one substitute on the bench as opposed to the Gators’ 17, wearing the other team down was a point of emphasis.
The fatigue began to set in during the second half, with Gateway using its ability to have energized players on the field at all times, to its advantage. Controlling possession and racing after loose balls took a toll on the opposition.
Nearly five minutes into the second half, the Gators got on the board again off a Briggs corner kick that deflected off multiple defenders in traffic, with Chepurenko getting redemption and finishing it off.
Briggs again was at the forefront of the third goal a few minutes later, dribbling up the left side before sending a cross to the middle toward the visitin goalkeeper. The velocity and spin on the ball made it difficult to handle, as it went between the keeper’s legs, and into Carter’s lap, where he quickly tapped it in.
The three-goal deficit put an even bigger strain on the stamina of the Mountain Lions, who tried everything they could to make the comeback.
“We play on the largest field you can have,” McCaul said. “We try to use it against everybody anyways, just side to side, and end-line to end-line, just use the whole field. That’s our goal, is always try to run the other teams out of gas.”
With goals four and five being scored, Gateway continued to focus on keeping a clean sheet. As a team that prides itself on defending, true success meant keeping the opponent off the board for 80 minutes.
The Gators closed out strong, maintaining a strong backline and limiting Match Charter to just two shots on net. With another big game coming up, building confidence with a dominant, 5-0 win is exactly what the team hoped would happen.
With the win, Gateway moves on to the Round of 32 to take on No. 8 New Mission in Boston. The team’s key to success moving forward will be to continue playing as a unit.
“It’s no secret the next one’s [going to] be tough for us,” McCaul said. “… So we’ve got to do it together. As long as we play together, we play well.”
Kickoff for the Gators’ next game is scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Gateway’s Bow Briggs carries the ball around a MATCH Charter defender during the first half of the MIAA Division 5 preliminary round boys soccer game in Huntington on Monday. RYAN AMES/Gazette
Gateway’s Cole Pryzbyla heads the ball during the first half of the MIAA Division 5 preliminary round boys soccer game against MATCH Charter in Huntington on Monday. RYAN AMES/Gazette
Gateway goalkeeper Zack Hess, right, makes a save during the first half of the MIAA Division 5 preliminary round boys soccer game against MATCH Charter in Huntington on Monday. RYAN AMES/Gazette
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