LEWISBURG – The Buckhannon-Upshur soccer Bucs made the long trek to Lewisburg to take on the defending Class AAA state champions the Greenbrier East Spartans Friday evening in non-conference action.
While the Bucs were tied with the Spartans midway through the second half, they wound up dropping a 3-1 decision.
“Overall, we did well managing Greenbrier East’s high pressure and created some scoring chances, but we just seemed disconnected at times,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Mike Donato. “A missed step, or a missed pass away from really being able to take advantage of our opportunities, and I have to do better about making sure our players are better prepared to seize those moments.”
Greenbrier East scored the game’s lone first-half goal in the 35th minute when Ian Gadd played a cross to Hassan Nakouda who put a touch on the ball and found the back of the net.
B-U’s Riel Figueroa tied the game for the Bucs in the 54th minute when Cam Carpenter played a through ball to him past a Spartan defender and he scored the goal with a shot to the far post.
The tie was short-lived as Greenbrier East took the lead again just two minutes later when Gadd played a through ball from Dawson Trusty that the B-U defense misplayed and he scored with a shot to the near post.
The Spartans put the game away in the 64th minute when Noah Edwards dribbled through the B-U defense and scored an unassisted goal with a shot to the near post.
The Bucs were outshot by a 10-4 margin and trailed in corner kicks by a 10-1 count.
The Bucs were guilty of three fouls while the Spartans were called for two.
B-U keeper Slaton Kowalkoski made nine saves while Greenbrier East goalie Tyler Crites made three saves.
“Our defense and goalkeeping kept us in it the whole time and the goal we did score had some great buildup and combination play, so the concepts are there, and will become most consistent as the season progresses and we get more varsity experience.” concluded Donato.
The Buc, now 0-2 overall, will face off against Wheeling Park on Tuesday at home at 6 p.m.
The boxscore:
Buckhannon-Upshur 0 1 – 1
Greenbrier East 1 2 – 3
Scoring
Greenbrier East – Hassan Nakouda (Ian Gadd assist), 35th minute.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Riel Figueroa (Cam Carpenter assist), 54th minute.
Greenbrier East – Ian Gadd (Dawson Trusty assist), 56th minute.
Greenbrier East – Noah Edwards (unassisted), 64th minute.
Shots-on-goal – Buckhannon-Upshur: 4; Greenbrier East: 10.
Fouls – Buckhannon-Upshur 3; Greenbrier East 2.
Corner kicks – Buckhannon-Upshur 1; Greenbrier East: 10.
Saves – Buckhannon-Upshur: Slaton Kowalkoski 9; Greenbrier East: Tyler Crites 3.
