The James River soccer teams will begin their Three Rivers District seasons next Wednesday, April 3, when they take on Alleghany opponents. The girls will be at Alleghany while the boys host the Cougars in Springwood.
The boys are 1-3 after four games. They dropped their final game before break at Northside last week by a 7-0 score.
The girls are 1-2-1 after dropping home games to Northside, 1-0, and Nelson County, 5-1, last week.
“Both of these were entertaining games, even with the one-sided loss to Nelson,” said River coach Bill Smith. “Our team is balanced and has some great talent. I still feel we are in for a strong season.”
Against Northside the Knights played in their own half for most of the first 20 minutes. As the half moved on the momentum shifted in favor of the home team, but a counter attack by the Viking Blair Hungate proved costly for the Knights, giving up a goal with just minutes left in the period.
Photo by Leigh Downey
The second half was dominated by the home Knights, but it didn’t result in a goal as the Northside keeper played a strong game.
“The match saw some really solid play and was a good early season test for both squads,” said Smith.
Last Friday the Nelson County girls traveled to James River for the second meeting of these teams this season. The Governors came out strong from the opening whistle and started scoring early as the Knights struggled to contain the attack. Nelson had five goals in the first 25 minutes to take a dominating lead.
Despite the one-sided start to the game, James River did not give up. The team started shifting the momentum, first holding off the Nelson attack then providing some offense of their own. With nine minutes remaining in the half Rhaya Kitt scored for the Knights to spoil the Governors’ shutout. The second half was played mostly in Nelson’s end but River couldn’t find the net.
“The second half was like a different game,” said Smith. “The control was back and the quality of play was better.”
