The Lord Botetourt boys scored a 3-1 win over James River on the Springwood pitch last week in a battle of county rivals. Both teams are off this week for spring break.
Blake Myers, Jacob Booth and Trey Rice all scored goals for the Cavs in the win over River. Tristan Flood scored for the Knights.
“I always seem to give James River credit when we play them and that is because they deserve it,” said LB coach Tim Wright. “We had strong moments in our game, but unfortunately it was too inconsistent. We always seem to struggle a bit when we play them. I think the biggest reason for that is James River simply works hard all the time.”
River coach Jared Whiting feels his team can do better.
“We played fair, but not great,” he said. “We worked hard the whole game, no lack of effort for sure, but we were making mental errors. We had some exceptional possession periods but tended to lose patience and try to force the ball, costing turnovers. It was still an improvement from our first game and that is what we are looking and working for.”
Lord Botetourt ended the week hosting Franklin County in what was anticipated to be a competitive match-up. After a scoreless first half, the Cavaliers dominated possession and scoring opportunities.
After 47 minutes of play, Isaac DeHart got the Cavs on the scoreboard with a back post run on a corner kick, where he was able to put his head on it. Kyle Wood and Gardner Branscom soon followed with two more goals as LB took a 3-0 win. Senior goalkeeper Bryson Sanchez earned his first shutout of the young season.
“Contrary to the beginning of the week, this was a game where our performance matched our potential,” said Wright. “Overall, I was extremely impressed how the guys played.”
The Cavs are now 3-0-1, and they’ll be back in action Tuesday of next week with a Blue Ridge District game against William Byrd in Vinton.
The Knights picked up their first win on Friday at Nelson County, 2-1. Nelson scored first but River dominated the second half with Jacob Wagner scoring both goals, assisted by Brad Stephenson and Dalton Simmons.
“More and more minutes of each game we are playing controlled and patient soccer,” said Whiting. “We played some impressive soccer a good portion of the game.”
Now 1-2, the Knights will return from spring break with a Three Rivers District match at Giles on Monday.
