Covenant’s boys soccer team is looking for a reversal of last postseason’s fortunes, a year where the Barons caught fire early in the season but flamed out in the postseason as the top seed with a state semifinal loss at the hands of North Cross.
“Last year we started well but ended poorly and this year we started poorly but we’re trying to end well,” said Covenant coach Carol Bampoe. “We’re trying to stay humble and hungry to accomplish those goals.”
Wednesday they got the postseason started off right with a 7-0 win over Eastern Mennonite High in the VIC quarterfinals, vaulting them into a VIC semifinal match against Blue Ridge Thursday on short rest.
The Eagles’ offense got going in a big way in the win over the Flames, with four first half goals before tacking on another three in the first six minutes of the second half. From there, the Eagles leaned on the reserves to close out the victory. Soren Scott led the attack with a hat trick and an assist while Josiah McCaskill chipped in a pair of goals.
“We’re definitely peaking and continuing to play good soccer,” Scott said. “We really emphasized one-two passing. Toward the middle of the season we figured out that that was one of our issues, so now we’ve been knocking it around up top better and getting more chances. We’re being more creative.”
Scott and McCaskill have paired well up top for the Eagles, giving them a serious punch on offense. McCaskill has scored 21 goals with three assists while Scott has eight goals and nine assists.
“They have really been efficient, we posed the question to them about who they wanted to play with,” Bampoe said. “Josiah said ‘I feel comfortable with Soren up there’ so the two of them up there have been electrifying.”
Freshman Diego Dominguez and senior Michael Seelman rounded out the scoring for the Eagles. Getting more players involved in the attack has happened as the season has gone along, with the Eagles finding an offensive rhythm after a rocky start to the year. Covenant has now won eight straight matches.
“It’s definitely gotten better, I think the coaches did a great job of integrating some training techniques that helped our runs get better,” McCaskill said. “We’ve gotten some fitness and I think our center mids coming in and our outside backs pinching in and putting in crosses has really helped.”
Will Maupin and Jack Barr combined for three saves in net for the Eagles.
