MC soccer boys get huge win

Madison County’s boys soccer team was back in action April 28 at Hoover Ridge against Rappahannock County’s Panthers. The first half was filled with hard fought 50-50 balls and quality shots on goal, though the Mountaineers could not find the back of “Rapp’s” net.

Midway into the second half, Jack Laub broke away from the Panther defense scoring Madison’s only goal of the match. The Panthers rallied back to tie the match 1-1 before the final whistle. 

Rebounding from the hard fought match early in the week, the Mountaineers traveled to Clarke County to take on the Eagles. Walking onto Clarke’s field brought back all the memories of seasons’ past for the Mountaineers. In the 2008 Bull Run District semi-final, the boys from Berryville defeated Madison for the third time last season, 4-3, thus denying Big Blue a birth into regional play. 

The Mountaineers came out strong against the Eagles despite being down two of their starting players. After 16 minutes of play, Zach Herrman received a through ball from Shepherd Waldenberger and easily played it past Clarke’s goalkeeper. With the Mountaineers winning every 50-50, they applied constant pressure on the ball, which began to wear down the Eagle defense.

“We really pressured well and forced them into making mistakes,” said Madison Head Coach Jacob Martens. 

In the 20th minute, Sam Landolt scored off a corner kick heading the ball past a defender and keeper, making the score 2-0 at half. The Eagles regained some composure and managed to break through the Mountaineer defense in the 48th minute to score. The Mountaineers rallied back, getting fired up after losing the comfort zone of a 2-0 lead.

With shots coming from all angles and constant pressure on Clarke’s defense, the Mountaineers broke through one final time to seal the win. Shepherd Waldenberger received a pass from Adam Holbrook and buried it into the net scoring the final goal of the match.

“We had really good teamwork from our defense to our forwards, keeping possession,” said Coach Martens. “Despite being down two starting players, it was our best effort from all 11 players this season.”

After 80 minutes of a hard fought match, Madison’s Mountaineers made history defeating the Clarke County Eagles 3-1. This was the first win for the Mountaineers against the Eagles since 2002.

“After suffering a loss and a tie in the last two district games we needed to come out big,” said Coach Martens. “And come up big we did.”