Flint Hill Boys Soccer Beats Rival Potomac

With time ticking away and Potomac’s best striker bearing down on him uncontested, senior goalie Scott Kuras stepped up to the challenge, parrying away the point blank strike to preserve a hard fought 1-0 victory for .

“I have been telling him there will be time when we really need him to make the great save,” head coach Chris Brown said afterwards.  “He came out well and was in great position.”

The Huskies took the lead 7 minutes into the contest thanks to a great play from senior leader Sebastian Abrigo and Pat Shumway.  After sliding behind the defense, Abrigo took it straight at the keep, but selflessly laid it off to a streaking Shumway, who slotted in the back of the open net.

“The early goal was huge for us,” Brown commented.  “Anytime you play a rival shcool like Potomac, a early goal will help settle your nerves.  It allows you to slow the game down and gives you ability to get away with a couple mistakes.”

Luckily for Brown and the Flint Hill faithful, the back four were solid all games, and refused to make the mistake to allow their opponents back into the match.  Thus far, the defense has only allowed 3 goals in five matches, and Monday’s contest again showed why they are so difficult to beat.

“The back four was excellent,” Brown applauded.  “They knew they were going to be under a lot of pressure, but they stepped up brilliantly, marked man to man, and were really brave on the headers.”

Whereas the opening half was battled back and forth with more kickball than connect passes, the game began to get more fluid in the second half, and change that benifited the Huskies style of play.

Abrigo and junior midfielder Ricardo Manosalvas were able to get themselves into great position for long range efforts, as well as facilitate and creaet great scoring chances for Shumway and fellow striker Narayan Taterway. Taterway almost doubled the advantage late in the game, beating the keep with a slow roller only to see it cleared off the line by a Potomac defender.    

With the 1-0 victory, the Huskies advanced to 4-1 and remained perfect (3-0) in conference play. 

“It has been a great start,” Brown said. “But we need to work hard and continue to get better.”