King's Hat Trick Too Much for Hornets
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The McCann Tech boys' soccer team knew it had a fight on its hand in its game against Commerce on Tuesday. Even though the Hornets lost 5-2, head coach Adam Kozik was pleased with the effort his team gave against a Red Raiders' squad that averages eight goals a game."Commerce is a tough team to beat in this league," Kozik said. "They dribble and move off the ball extremely well. Their speed and quickness is hard to match. They have scored an average of over eight goals against four opponents in the Tri-County League, and we allowed five."
Eyasu Michael gave Commerce a 1-0 lead just two minutes and 34 seconds into the game by knocking in a goal past McCann goalie Connor Vazquez. Shane King then took control for the Raiders notching three goals with one assist to push the visitors to a 5-0 lead. It could have been worse for the Hornets had it not been for senior centerback Dylan Walker and Vazquez, who stopped 14 of the 45 shots Commerce had on the day,
"Here we have the best defender and best keeper in the Tri-County League," Kozik said of Walker and Vazquez. "While other players were being interviewed after the game, these two stars of the game carried balls and gear back to the locker room. The glory of being a keeper or defender."
Despite facing a large deficit, McCann (2-4-1) gave the home fans something to cheer about by scoring the final two goals of the match. Freshman Shane Fuller broke up the shutout by beating Raiders' keeper Nicholson Pennant with 24 minutes left in the game. Junior Chad Raimer then scored a few minutes later, taking a cross from Fuller and finding the back of the net.
"The two goals we scored were the most they've given up in the league this year," Kozik said. "Looking back at our history against Commerce, we've had similar outcomes, so this scenario was expected. Anything can happen, though, and we look forward to our next match against this team."
The Hornets return to action with a 4 p.m. game at Sci-Tech on Thursday.