WHS Men's Soccer: Wakulla War Eagles Withstand Tornadoes to Earn a Draw

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
Wakulla War Eagles 1; Panama City Bay 1

{sidebar id=1}The War Eagles proved they can fight adversity as Panama City Bay came into town Tuesday evening for a district match.

Panama City Bay had been a thorn in Wakulla’s backside during the past two seasons owning a 3 – 1 – 1 record against Wakulla. The War Eagles last win against their district rivals was a 3 – 0 thriller in Panama City on December 9th, 2005.

Despite Wakulla outshooting their opponents by a 10 – 5 margin during the first half, it was Bay that would strike paydirt first during the fourth minute of play.

A pass by Bay’s Corey Newsome bounced off a Wakulla defender and straight to Jesse Klunk. Klunk did not hesitate in taking advantage of the
defensive error as Bay pulled ahead immediately.

The War Eagles had numerous opportunities to tie the match and take the lead during the first half only to miss several goals by mere flakes of paint or blades of grass. It was just one of those nights where a “game of inches” came true to form.

During the 32nd minute of intense action dominated by Wakulla, Patrick Stewart dished off a through ball to Nick Baxter. Baxter’s blast bounced hard off the cross bar with a resounding thud heard throughout the stadium.

Both teams started out the second half with sheer determination as Ryan Smith and Nick Baxter both had brilliant strikes of the ball during the 43rd minute only to find Bay’s Patrick Reed (9 Saves) up for the challenge.

After recording six shots during the first half, Wakulla’s Patrick Stewart found himself double and triple covered for the remainder of the second half.

Still Nick Baxter, Ryan Smith and Siul Vega all had separate scoring opportunities within the first five minutes of the second half.

Limiting the Tornadoes to only two shots on frame during the first half, the defensive tandem of Trevor Nason, Raleigh Clarke, Chad Herold and Shane Davis kept Panama City Bay from recording a shot on goal until the 53rd Minute.

From their defensive positions, Shane Davis (assist) and Chad Herold made brilliant runs that caught the Bay defense by surprise. A well placed through ball hit Chad Herold in stride, placing the ball past the diving goalkeeper and into the rear netting.

The match was now at a 1 – 1 draw in the 51st Minute.

Goalkeeper Matt Reich (9 Saves) would make a sliding save stopping a potential fast break goal during the 61st Minute; as well as an over the crossbar flick finger-tip save of an in-swinger corner kick that appeared destined for the goal during the 68th Minute.
One of the best offensive plays of the match, began with Patrick Stewart hitting Chad Herold running straight up the midfield. Herold passed to Zach Swain whom simply back-heeled the sphere back to teammate Ryan Smith. As Bay’s goalkeeper was screened due to the traffic in front of him, Smith’s blast sailed untouched towards goal only to miss high by several inches.

Bay rallied and had the last several scoring opportunities as the Tornadoes dominated possession. A certain breakaway goal by Bay was tipped by Reich and was slowly trickling towards becoming the potential winning goal.

Without hesitation, Reich jumped to his feet and raced back to the ball, slid and kicked the ball safely over the endline. The ensuing corner kick and shot was struck high.

With the final shrill of the whistle, the War Eagles had broken a three game losing streak with a 1 – 1 draw.

With the draw, Wakulla’s overall record is 3 – 1 – 1 and 2 – 0 – 1 in district play. Bay’s overall record is 2 – 2 – 2 and 1 – 0 – 1 in district play.

The War Eagles head off for a very tough week of three away matches, playing at Rickards on Monday (26th); at Maclay on Tuesday (27th);
and, at Panama City Beach Arnold on Friday (30th).

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING!

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Click here for additional WHS Men’s Varsity soccer information.

Submitted by:

John Reich
WHS Men’s Soccer Booster Club – President
Public Relations / Statmeister
926-5970
DAD_316@yahoo.com

This article originally published on November 25, 2007.

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