Fight, ejections mar big Knightdale win over Clayton boys soccer
A quick start and ironclad defense led Knightdale’s boys soccer team to its third straight conference shutout victory, 2-0 on Wednesday over Clayton.
The Knights (5-3-2, 3-0 Greater Neuse River 4A Conference) scored a pair of goals in the first 16 minutes and that was more than enough for keeper Eric Hill and an experienced Knights backline.
“There was a lot of ball composure on our part tonight,” Knightdale coach Aaron Steele said. “That’s just been our main theme all season, keep the ball, get the ball back, and we work pretty hard at it.
“We tend to sometimes go out swinging (on offense). We go out in the first five to 10 minutes with three or four goals because it’s a full commitment.”
It was the first victory at Clayton for the Knightdale seniors.
Clayton dropped to 5-6 and 2-1.
Knightdale scored in the sixth minute on a high, arching shot from the left side by Teo Aguilar.
In the 16th minute, Josh Weddle scored in the midst of a group of players in front of the goal on an assist from Brooks Poirier.
The game was marred by a fight in the second half that resulted in two red cards and ejections.
Clayton’s Dennis Andino and Knightdale’s Darius Jones were battling for possession at full speed when they slid out of bounds in the corner of the field. They started wrestling on the ground and some punches were thrown before they were separated by the referees and coaches.
Both players will miss four games unless the ejection is reduced to a disqualification by the conference’s head official on appeal, Steele said.
“I think it takes away from a great game tonight,” Steele said of the incident. “Both teams fought to the bitter end.”
TURNING POINT
The first goal. Aguilar’s shot arched into the goal past the Clayton keeper and broke a scoreless tie early. It would turn out to be the only goal the Knights would need.
THEY SAID IT
“Marquee victories are the big ones, and this was a big one,” Steele said of the win over the defending conference champions. “Every victory is important. We really want to put Knightdale on our back.”
DEFENSE, DEFENSE
Knightdale returned all four of its defenders from a year ago, and it is showing in their conference string of shutouts.
“I knew that if we could get the back four playing as a good strong line and get involved in possession we would be looking good,” Steele said. “They do a great job of talking and (maintaining) composure to make sure we don’t panic. I know that Clayton opened up with the press early and we did a great job of holding on to the ball and not losing it. They do a great job.”
YOUNG CLUB
“We don’t make excuses over here,” Clayton coach John Asmussen said. “We started with one senior tonight and three freshmen. Both senior captains are out with injuries and I have another starter out with injury. We had a lot of young kids in there. I thought as the game progressed we improved.
“It’s a learning experience for us right now. I don’t want to call it rebuilding. We are just trying to get better every day. I was very proud of the way we responded in the second half. …
“I thought the younger kids when they got acclimated to the game really got the ball moving. We’ll see how they progress this year. This will be a year that will benefit this program for a long time.”
This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Fight, ejections mar big Knightdale win over Clayton boys soccer."