Strong start for Hawks
As of March 24, Hardin Valley Academy’s boys’ soccer team had played only three matches. But, their only non-win — a 2-2 tie against defending 3A state champ Houston High School (near Memphis) — has second-year coach Jessica Stephens feeling confident.
She remains aware, however, of how early the season still is.
“I’ve gotta be pleased with the amount of goals that we’re scoring and with the energy we’re playing with right now,” Stephens said. “It’s a long season. The ball movement and the organization look pretty strong right now. I hope we continue to build on that.”
The Hawks kicked off the ’22 season at the Meet Me In The Middle Classic in Murfreesboro with two matches on Saturday, March 19. The first match, against Beech High School from Hendersonville, was an 8-0 thrashing. The match was well in hand long before it was over.
“That game we completely dominated,” Stephens said. “I think we scored a goal in the first minute of the match. I guess we were just clicking. It just worked to where we were putting in everything in front of the net.”
The Hawks got single goals from Collin Combs, Ish Palacios, Ben Brophy and Rami Altiti, and a pair each from Brady Margo and D.J. Powers.
The tie against Houston came in the second match that day. After a scoreless first half, HVA took a 1-0 lead on Brady Hammer’s goal.
Houston then scored twice to lead 2-1, but Combs tied it with a goal with about 15 minutes left.
“After (going down 2-1) we were able to fight back; and with about 15 minutes left, we were able to tie it 2-2, and we finished fairly strong after that,” Stephens said.
Last Thursday, the Hawks improved to 2-0-1 with a
4-0 shutout of Oak Ridge. Mason Sandidge scored, along with Hammer, Palacios and Powers.
“Oak Ridge is a strong physical team, and they’re in our region, so it’s nice to get there and play someone of good competition,” Stephens said. “And then, be able to step in and put four goals on them is a big deal for us. We were pretty excited with that.”
The slog through a tough district started Tuesday against Maryville. The gauntlet is hardly lost on Stephens.
“We gotta hang in there and stay injury free,” she said. “And, that we continue to get better and not peak too soon.”
