Whiteoak soccer earns first varsity win in current program history
It took only three games in being a varsity program, but history was made for the Whiteoak Wildcats co-ed soccer team, with the current program earning their first varsity victory in boys soccer, defeating the Western Latham Indians, 5-1 in a home match played at Bright Elementary.
The Wildcats won with a hat-trick from Abe Flader as he scored three goals in the non-conference win. Finishing with two goals scored was Tyler Wessner, as those two combined for all five goals.
Assists were credited to Kenyon Hughes with two, and Adrionna Phillips had one.
Flader scored the first goal of the match for the early 1-0 lead. Western scored a goal of their own, tying the score at 1-1 in the first half, but from there the Wildcats gained a 2-1 advantage with a goal off a penalty kick from Wessner.
“It was a great team win. We moved the ball well and played our soccer,” WHS head coach Adam Schelling said.
In the second half, Flader added two more goals to complete the hat-trick, and Wessner added another goal.
“Western had some great ball handlers and shooters up top, and we challenged our defense to not let in any more goals in the second half,” Schelling said. “Our defense played solid in the second half. Gideon Swingle, Grady Roberts, Cody Richards, Chris Wessner and Jackson Tedford in goal proved to be solid the whole second half and held them scoreless.
“Adrionna Phillips and Kenyon Hughes were solid in the midfield by gaining assists off three goals. It took the whole team playing together to win this game. This will hopefully give us momentum headed into a tough SHAC match up against the Eastern Warriors.”
The win improves Whiteoak to 1-2 overall as they are 0-2 in the SHAC.
The previous day, on Tuesday, Aug. 20 the Wildcats suffered a 6-0 loss to Fayetteville.
Next for the Wildcats is a non-conference game on Tuesday, Aug. 27 vs. Portsmouth Clay, followed by a SHAC game on Wednesday, Aug. 28 on the road against the Eastern Warriors at 4:30 p.m.