Enloe soccer holds off Sanderson
It took Enloe only 2 minutes to score, but the Eagles needed much more than that to hold visiting Sanderson at bay on Wednesday night.
The Eagles scored their lone goal, a header from 10 yards away by Chris Murphy. That single goal was all they needed to pick up a 1-0 win over the Spartans.
Murphy tipped the ball, sending it behind the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper. The rest of the Cap-8 Conference rivalry match was an intense affair that did not lack action despite a lack of scoring.
“They got an early goal,” Sanderson coach Michael Worley said. “Actually our team really played great. I told them after the game, ‘This is soccer, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.’ We went at them all night long, but we struggled scoring. All year it’s been like that.”
The first 15 minutes were the difference in the game. That’s when Sanderson (10-7-4, 6-5-1 Cap-8) got off to a slow start, allowing the Eagles (9-6-2, 4-6-2) to play their best ball.
“Our first 15 minutes we moved the ball well,” Enloe senior captain Graham Rex said. “We were moving off the ball and the last half we kind of loss that.”
Worley, on the other hand, said his Spartans were not as aggressive as he would have liked in that time frame.
As evenly as the remainder of the match unfolded, Enloe had the goal, and that’s what made the difference.
In its last six games, Enloe had four losses and two ties. To get back in the win colum was just want the Eagles needed as the regular-season winds to a close.
“We’ve been on a bad streak,” Rex said. “It feels good to get a win against a team we beat already. It’s nice to get our only sweep in the conference.”
Turning point
Late in the second half, Sanderson was on the attack. The Spartans kicked a high ball towards the goal, but Enloe goalie Emir Sevim went airborne, snagging it out of the air to deny the goal.
“They had one strike into the upper 90, and he got over there and saved it,” Rex said about the amazing play from Sevim. “He’s always alert, he’s always trying to help us, always communicating.”
Three who mattered
Chris Murphy, Enloe: The sophomore’s lone goal proved to be the big difference in the Eagles one-point win.
Emir Sevim, Enloe: The sophomore goalie had three saves for the Eagles, and his communication in the net played a pivotal role in the Enloe shutout.
Bryson Condrey, Sanderson: After giving up the goal to Murphy in the first 2 minutes, Condrey was able to keep the Eagles out of the net for the final 78.
By the numbers
2: Yellow cards given out in the second half of this chippy rivalry contest
0: Goals Sanderson has scored against Enloe in two games this season
7: Shutouts the Eagles have pitched this season.
What worked
In the final 2 minutes, with Sanderson pressing, Enloe defended very well.
“The biggest key was to win the headers,” Rex said. “If you win the headers, the ball is going to keep bouncing in your favor. You lose the headers, the ball is going to go behind you and they are going to eventually get a lucky one.”
Needs improvement
Sanderson had more set play opportunities, especially in the second half. At least three times, the Spartans designed the perfect set up. Everything went right, except the ball going into the net.
“Our set plays … they looked good tonight, but we were off on our spots,” Worley said. “Our target man was about 5 yards too far the wrong way and he kept coming up short. I don’t know why we were like that, I couldn’t get them out of it.”
They said it
“Last time they really attacked us, so this time we were a little conservative,” Worley said.
This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Enloe soccer holds off Sanderson."