HUNTINGTON – The Buckhannon-Upshur soccer Buccaneers dropped a 2-1 road decision to Huntington Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
Nick Wilson of Huntington scored the game’s only goal in the first half when he scored on a shot from the top of the penalty area that reached the back post and into the net.
Elis Esteves made it 2-0 for Huntington in the 43rd minute when he took a pass and scored from almost the same spot as Wilson did.
Christian Dowell scored B-U’s lone goal in the 56th minute when he found the back of the net on a penalty kick.
“Huntington plays great possession and overall, we did a good job of playing patiently and taking advantage of the chances we earned,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Mike Donato. “Our midfielders showed much improvement in their defensive rotations and support which forced some mistakes on their part.”
The Bucs trailed in shots-on-goal by a 16-5 margin and in corner kicks by a 4-0 margin.
“The stats show us getting outshot by a three to one margin, but we did a great job of not surrendering many quality chances,” noted Donato.
Fouls were even at five apiece.
Buckhannon-Upshur keeper Slaton Kowalkoski came up big for the Bucs several times with 14 saves.
“Slaton made a big save on a penalty kick towards the end of the second half which gave us some momentum for a late push, but just couldn’t find the back of the net again,” concluded Donato.
Huntington goalie Brody Seals made four saves.
Huntington improved to 10-5-2 on the year while the Bucs dropped to 5-9-2 on the season.
The Bucs will be back on the pitch Tuesday hosting Bridgeport in a Big 10 Conference clash starting at 7:30 p.m.
The boxscore:
Buckhannon-Upshur 0 1 – 1
Huntington 1 1 – 2
(Scoring)
Huntington – Nick Wilson (unassisted goal), 23rd minute.
Huntington – Elis Esteves (unassisted goal), 43rd minute.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Christian Dowell (penalty kick), 56th minute.
Shots-on-goal – Buckhannon-Upshur: 5; Huntington: 16.
Corner kicks – Buckhannon-Upshur: 0; Huntington: 4.
Fouls – Buckhannon-Upshur: 5; Huntington: 5.
Saves – Buckhannon-Upshur: Slaton Kowalkoski 14; Huntington: Brody Seals 4.