Nation Ford head boys soccer coach Kenny Halas said he and his staff spent time over the spring break to analyze how opponents were scoring on the Falcons.
The answer, he said, was that goals were being conceded quickly, rather than from a developed run of play.
Following a week of rest and recuperation, Halas said he wanted his team to focus on playing smart passes and not letting the opponent gain momentum.
The Falcons executed that plan well to pull off a 2-0 home win against Region 3-5A foe Blythewood Tuesday night in Fort Mill.
“Really simple stuff,” said Halas after the win. “We’re really good defensively. I wanted us to be in the right place. We’re in the right spots. I thought we left two or three goals on the field, even.”
With the win, Nation Ford improves to 13-5-1 overall and 4-3 in region play.
Nation Ford bossed the possession in the first half and created the majority of the chances on goal.
While Blythewood’s best opportunity in the half was a corner kick that ultimately ended with a shot closer to the corner flag than the goalmouth, the Falcons peppered the Bengals’ frame with shots.
Junior Noah Ashe nearly gave the Falcons the lead in the seventh minute, when he headed home a ball from a far-side corner kick, but the shot was waved away for offsides. Ashe skimmed the post 10 minutes later and nearly beat the keeper with a cross in the 20th minute when his chip floated too closely to the Blythewood goal.
The junior finally converted when he latched on to a Beau Lesh cross from the left wing, took a touch to control and guided a calm shot past the Blythewood goalkeeper.
Lesh nearly doubled the Nation Ford advantage five minutes later when he lasered a shot from distance, forcing the keeper to palm the shot away for a corner.
Senior midfielder Donny Purcell enjoyed Blythewood’s most dangerous shot of the half when he turned his defender outside and inside, then took a hard, right-footed shot at Nation Ford goalkeeper JJ Podlasek that just cleared the keeper’s crossbar.
Alec Lindenberg doubled the Falcons’ lead just five minutes after the halftime break. Lindenberg pounced on an unfortunate mistake by the Blythewood keeper, who misplayed a clearance punch from a long free kick. The punch landed at Lindenberg’s feet, and he made no mistake from 10 yards out.
Blythewood made a push in the final 20 minutes, with Purcell testing Podlasek from distance twice. His last shot deflected off a Falcons defender and forced Podlasek into an acrobatic diving save to punch the effort away for a corner.
“We’re in the right spots,” Halas said. “I’m not even stressing about that. I think we had 11 shots in the first half, seven on frame, that’s more than we’ve had in other games. We’re a defensive team, so we look to get the ball high and win underneath, see what happens.”
Nation Ford continues the region schedule with a home game against Rock Hill Friday, April 12 before traveling to face Spring Valley April 16.
