Even when his team was getting put under the most pressure, Nation Ford head coach Kenny Halas had faith that his defense would keep visiting Spring Valley at bay Friday night.
Halas’ trust was well-placed. Nation Ford enforced a lockdown defense to earn a 1-0 home shutout win over their region foe.
With the win, the Falcons move to 10-3 overall and 4-0 Region 3-5A. Nation Ford remain undefeated in region play with an exciting home matchup against second-place Clover on deck Tuesday, March 28 in Fort Mill.
“While it looked like we were under a lot of pressure,” Halas said, of the second half, when Spring Valley was forced to fight back after conceding a penalty kick goal near the hour-mark. “I wasn’t nervous. We sat in and we were fine with it. They kept us in a good place where we could control where the ball goes.”
Senior Eric Pinski was the lone goal scorer in Friday night’s win. He dispatched a 58th-minute penalty kick after Spring Valley goalkeeper Cris Angeles felled Nation Ford senior Colin Evans in the Vikings’ box.
Pinski picked his spot and slotted a hard shot to the goalkeeper’s left, then kicked off a raucous celebration near the Nation Ford bench.
Spring Valley looked to respond immediately, but late efforts by Kabi Savanapandian and Player Fields weren’t close enough to truly trouble senior goalkeeper Evan Morris. The Nation Ford defense focused on keeping Spring Valley attacks outside of Morris’ penalty area, effectively neutralizing most of Spring Valley’s attempts and limiting them to long-range efforts.
“We were looking for a lot of patience today,” Halas said. “We wanted to make sure we were really good on transition moments. I wasn’t disappointed at all with our patience, especially in the first half.
Nation Ford dominated the early possession and opportunities, but couldn’t take advantage of their hard work in the final third.
Junior Akin Eren cut in from the wing in the eighth minute to take a right-footed shot on frame, but it skimmed just wide of the far post.
Evans had an excellent chance to score when he was left alone at the far post from a 20th-minute corner, but the final shot was high and wide. Senior Tyler Forbes was unlucky not to break the deadlock just seven minutes later when his reaction shot from just six yards out hit Angeles in the midriff, allowing the Vikings to scurry the ball away before Forbes could tap home the rebound.
Spring Valley had few chances, but when they did, the Falcons’ defense did well to mute the Spring Valley strikers and force them into low-percentage shots.
Forbes had one last attempt before the halftime break lashing a 25-yard shot in the 37th minute that tested Angeles’ reaction speed, but ultimately flew above the crossbar.
Spring Valley had its best chance to equalize in the 65th minute when Fields had a chance to shoot from 12 yards out, but his shot hit Morris’ hands.
Both teams will next play region games 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 28. Nation Ford next hosts Clover, while Spring Valley travels to Rock Hill. With a 1-0 win over Fort Mill on Friday night, Clover now moves into sole possession of second place in the region.
Halas said his team will look to recover after a physical and fast-paced game.
“We’ll work on a game plan (for Clover),” he said. “Both of our teams know each other very well. It’ll be one of those things where whoever makes the special play will win. You can’t look past anyone in this region.”
