Hough shakes off the rust, tops Myers Park 3-1 in girls’ soccer showdown
It was a rather strange time and place for a first-place girls’ soccer showdown.
Both coaches agreed with that.
Hough downed host Myers Park 3-1 Tuesday night in a game between teams that were playing for the first time in 13 days, since before spring break.
And it happened on a field that hadn’t been used for a competitive sports event since last football season.
“But they beat us, so we’ll have to battle back,” Myers Park coach Bucky McCarley said after his team dropped the big Greater Charlotte 7A/8A match.
Myers Park’s last match was on April 1, and it was a big one — a 2-1 victory over perennial powerhouse Cardinal Gibbons.
Hough also hadn’t played since April 1, when the Huskies trounced Mallard Creek 9-0.
Each team had a few players who competed with club teams during spring break, but as far as practicing together?
“We practiced yesterday, and that was it — at least, since before spring break,” McCarley said.
“Like Myers Park, we came into this match with just yesterday’s practice,” Hough coach Mike Kutcher added.
The two coaches said they would have preferred a few matches against other conference teams, rather than to start the post-break schedule against each other.
And there was the matter of the field.
Myers Park (8-2-3, 3-1) is installing a new track, and the Mustangs’ soccer team played its opening 12 matches this season away from home. They were able to practice just once, Monday, on their home field prior to Tuesday’s match.
But the two coaches also agreed that Hough (14-2, 4-0) was the better team Tuesday night.
The Huskies seemed to win most of the battles for loose balls, and their defense collapsed on the Mustang attackers — after a shaky start.
The Mustangs broke on top in the opening minutes, when senior Amaya Falzarano beat Hough goalkeeper Riley Pickels for a goal.
“After that, Riley really took control,” Kutcher said.
Pickels, a senior N.C. State commit, came up with a big save late in the first half, batting away a shot by Falzarano on a Myers Park breakaway.
Meanwhile, Hough’s offense began to click.
The Huskies tied the score around the 10-minute mark on Olivia Miller’s 16th goal of the season. Then, after Nora Breault and Sydney Treanor each hit the bar with their shots, teammate Campbell Schmidt dribbled around a Myers Park defender and scored from 15 yards out with 4:27 left in the half.
The Huskies’ final goal came with 12:04 left in the match, when Sophia Pustarino lofted a shot over a scrum of players and into the net.
During the second half, Huskies players like Ava Houser and Abby Hudson repeatedly stole possession of balls from Myers Park players in midfield.
“That’s the way this team plays,” Kutcher said. “They fight for the ball, they fight for possession. They fight through injuries.”
McCarley tends to rely on seniors, because they learn his system and have the experience to deal with situations that develop during the match.
But for the second straight year, his starting lineup is loaded with freshmen and sophomores.
“It’s started being that way the last few seasons,” he said. “The younger players have worked their way into the starting lineup. That means we have a young team. But we have the time to develop.”
The Myers Park-Hough rematch, on Hough’s field, is set for May 1.