Leesville Road boys soccer
Leesville Road seniors Ryan Fleming (pictured) and Bo Burns have displayed excellent leadership this season, according to head coach Chip Stone. The 3-5 Pride face Sanderson tonight (Sept. 16).
Pride record 'best game'
in four years, says coach
What's Leesville's reward? Facing unbeaten SHS Wednesday
In his four years of coaching the Leesville Road boys soccer program, Chip Stone said he'd never seen a better performance than the Pride's 5-1 victory over Wakefield Sept. 14.
"We've had some good teams, and we've played some great games — two years ago, we were the equal to anybody — but that was the best game we played," the coach said during practice a day later.
The Pride kicked off the Cap-7 Conference clash in remarkable fashion as forwards Bo Burns and Kyle Davis each scored a goal in the contest's opening three minutes. Burns later added two more goals, and Davis tacked on another leading to the lopsided victory.
Although Leesville Road's offensive outburst might draw the most attention, Stone explained it was the Pride's "clean execution" and stellar all-around game which dictated the game's pace.
"We didn't let any balls hit the ground in the defensive third," the coach pointed out. "We didn't give any of their guys a chance to turn, and we contested every one of their shots — that was big difference for us.
"Plus, we got the ball to our forwards' feet. We have had shots this year, we just haven't scored. Monday, we took shots, and were actually able to put some on goal."
Leesville stumbled out of the gate this season — posting a 1-4 record through five games — but the victory at Wakefield signals the continuation of a recent upswing for the Pride.
Since their inauspicious start, Leesville is 2-1, beating Enloe 3-1 Sept. 8 and falling at Broughton 4-2 Sept. 10.
Sloan explained an eight-day layoff between Leesville's first five games and the start of the conference schedule played a large role in tine squad's turnaround.
"We really talked about our fundamentals during that time," he said. "And how we were not doing some of the things we needed to be doing. We were missing traps, missing passes, and we were giving our men too much space defensively."
To be honest, Sloan admitted he didn't expect the Pride to play so well against Wakefield. Coming off an uninspired performance against Broughton, Leesville didn't exactly breed optimism.
But the Pride showed up Monday ready to play, and Sloan lauded the team's ability to regroup.
The coach singled out Burns and fellow senior Ryan Fleming for their consistent leadership this season, and Fernando Castellanos and Davis for putting forth great effort against the Wolverines.
Keeper Davis Griffin recorded a solid outing, allowing only a penalty-kick goal to Wakefield's Ryan Metts — one of the area's most dynamic scorers.
Having played Broughton and Wakefield — both ranked in the state's Top 10 — the Pride's upcoming schedule doesn't get any friendlier, squaring off against two more ranked opponents.
Leesville hosts unbeaten No. 2 Sanderson tonight (Sept. 16) and travels to No .7 Millbrook Monday, Sept. 21. Both contests begin at 6:30 p.m.
In the ultra-competitive Cap-7, one spectacular win can easily be forgotten, and Sloan knows it.
"We're still in a must-win situation," he said. "With so many good teams in our conference, there will be two or three deserving teams that won't make it into the playoffs.
"We are feeling pretty good right now, but we have to build on it. We can't continue to do the things we did in previous weeks. We're have to continue to execute to play with these other teams."
If Leesville (3-5) can continue its recent momentum, that shouldn't be a problem.
