JV boys soccer earns winning season

Penalty kicks come only occasionally in a soccer game, and Amherst sophomore Captain Graham Carter was the lucky player who had the opportunity.

During the Brookville game April 9, Amherst had a chance to win the game. The score was 1-1, and the penalty kick would determine the outcome. During overtime, the players had the chance to pull ahead. They were nervous. Carter went to the ball, backed up, ran and kicked. The goalkeeper dove, but he did not dive quickly enough. The ball flew into the goal, and Carter helped his team win.

But Carter has a selfless opinion of his goal. “I don’t think of it as winning the game by myself,” he said. “It was a team effort, and the guys played great. We would have lost without their commitment.”

The JV Lancers were 10-3-1 on the year before Tuesday night’s game. Two of the losses were to the Heritage Pioneers, and the other loss and tie were to Jefferson Forest.

“We try to identify the weaknesses in games, and take them and work them out in practice,” coach David Tucker said. “We start from the simple things, like individual ball skill and team tactics, and work our way to harder things.”

Besides Carter, the other team captains are Aaron Crago and Justin Hamlet. Tucker said the responsibilities of being a captain are being the emotional leaders of the team and running the beginning parts of practice and games. They became captains because they are returning players and demonstrate a capacity for leadership.

The team has been inconsistent, Tucker said. “It’s something we have to work on, along with decision making and work rate. Our best game was at Jefferson Forest. We tied 1-1, but we played with consistency and intensity. The players showed progress since the beginning of the season.”

Said freshman Mike Orvos, “We’ve done pretty well defensively, but we’ve had missed opportunities.” Orvos said the team needs to become accustomed to playing with each other.

Tucker said he likes seeing the team building.

“I like seeing the group come together in a successful way. They work well with each other, considering so many of them have come from different middle schools. The ones that know each other kind of help their friends out. By the end of the year, everyone is doing the same.”

The team pep talks come not only from the coach, but also from the players. The captains usually help in cheering up the team, which is part of their roles as captains.

Jessie is an Amherst County High School sophomore and first reported on this story for the school newspaper, The Amherite.