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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Midland boys make the best of Huntington mistakes in win
Cabell Midland's Alex Molina dribbles through a Huntington defender during the Huntington High vs. Cabell Midland soccer game on September 2, 2008.
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ONA -- On Tuesday night, the boys soccer matchup between Huntington High and Cabell Midland came down to possession.
Cabell Midland sustained it. Huntington was unable to. It resulted in a 2-0 win for the Knights.
"Our guys just gave them the ball," Huntington High coach Brian Eerenberg said. "They made the mistakes and (Cabell Midland) was big enough to take advantage."
In a scrappy contest on the pitch at Cabell Midland High School, the Knights were able to scrape through with a pair of goals in the second half to secure a victory and hand Huntington its first loss of the season.
The difference in Tuesday night's matchup was Cabell Midland's ability to push possession to the Huntington end of the field.
Especially in the first half, the Knights forced the issue, garnering eight of 10 corner kicks and constantly putting pressure on Huntington goalie Thomas Balch.
However, the Knights did not break through until the 47th minute when Dustin Stewart scored off a long throw-in from Kyle Adkins.
The ball made it through several defenders in the box and Stewart delivered a strike that slipped past Balch.
The Knights then made it 2-0 in the 67th minute when Stewart sent a ball across the box and Zach Rohrberg planted it firmly in the back of the net to give Cabell Midland all the cushion it would need.
Just like the first goal, Huntington had its chances to clear the ball out of the box, but was unable to do so and ended up paying dearly for it.
"We got a couple of lucky breaks and took advantage of them, so we came away with a nice win," Cabell Midland coach Jack DeFazio said. "We got a goal from Zack and that was one of the first ones he's scored. It was a nice surprise. We took Alex (Molina) out and Dustin got the first goal, so that was a nice surprise also. You like those nice surprises."
The simple bounce of the ball just did not go Huntington's way in this game. The Highlanders had several opportunities at the net, but never was able to put any of the chances away.
Huntington (2-1-1) did a good job covering Erik Bjornson, the Highlanders' main scoring threat. Bjornson constantly faced multiple defenders when he got the ball and was unable to break free.
Cabell Midland scored its goals when Huntington moved defender Jamel Boukhemis forward to help Bjornson with the attack.
"I knew eventually they would try and tuck Jamel up top, and we tried to adjust to that," DeFazio said. "To their credit, they took the best defender in the state and put him up top and still defended well."
Eerenberg said the move of Boukhemis was out of necessity.
"We've noticed that we need to get Bjorny some support. The problem is getting someone to support him because he can't take on three defenders by himself," Eerenberg said. "We moved (Boukhemis) up just to get someone with some wheels up there with him. We feel like we have a shot with those two."
Cabell Midland (3-1) will host South Charleston on Thursday while Huntington will take on Huntington St. Joe at Spring Valley High School. Both games are slated for 7:30 p.m.
HUNTINGTON 0 0 -- 0
CABELL MIDLAND 0 2 -- 2
CM -- Dustin Stewart (assist Kyle Adkins), 47th minute
CM -- Zach Rohrberg (assist Stewart), 67th minute
Shots: HH 5, CM 11. Saves: HH 7 (Balch 7), CM 0. Corner kicks: HH 1, CM 10.
