Sept. 21<\/a>, the undefeated Falcons struck first and held a 2-0 advantage at halftime. The Golden Eagles made some changes late in the first half to boast their offense and found new life in the second half.<\/p>\nCentral even led the shot count 4-2 in the second half before a second goal from Forbush\u2019s Donovan Mingus took the wind out of Central\u2019s sails.<\/p>\n
Forbush improves to 15-0-1 overall and 9-0 in the FH2A Conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cJob well done for Forbush,\u201d said Surry Central coach Adan Garcia. \u201cThey came up big on their shots and they made them count. I think the score doesn\u2019t exactly represent what my players put in, though. What I saw was two teams just grueling it out; it\u2019s the same as every year. Regardless of what the score is, both teams are just pounding and clawing and going at it with everything they have.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can definitely be stressful, but I enjoy being a part of it because it challenges us and ultimately makes us better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forbush, ranked No. 3 in the Oct. 17 MaxPreps poll for the 2A West, now controls its own destiny in the FH2A Conference. The Falcons are 9-0 in the conference with three matches remaining and the only team still mathematically in the title race is Surry Central at 7-2. Forbush can secure a share of the conference championship with one win in its final three FH2A matches, or win the title outright by winning 2-of-3 remaining matches.<\/p>\n
Forbush has been particularly stingy on defense since playing Surry Central (9-7-2) the first time. The Falcons have posted shutouts in 10-of-16 matches this season, including each of past six matches and seven of their past eight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sort of like the pitcher with a no-hitter: you don\u2019t talk about it a lot,\u201d said Forbush coach Seth Davis. \u201cSo, we don\u2019t talk about it at practice. We don\u2019t talk about the fact that we haven\u2019t given up many goals during the second time through conference, it\u2019s more of, \u2018What do we need to do individually and as a team defensively to stay on the right side of the ball and not give up cheap opportunities.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should\u2019ve given up one tonight but my keeper came up big.\u201d<\/p>\n
The theoretical goal Davis referenced occurred during Surry Central\u2019s second-half offense surge. Central Midfielder Chris Nava pushed into Forbush\u2019s defensive third in the 46th minute, and instead of shooting from 35 yards out Nava navigated a minefield of Falcon defenders to put himself just outside the 18-yard box. Nava fired a shot out of the keeper\u2019s reach, but it hit the lower part of the crossbar instead of the back of the net.<\/p>\n
Golden Eagle Luke Creed charged forward to capitalize on the rebound while Falcon keeper Freddy Pena charged at him. Creed looked to score, but Pena threw his leg up just in time to make the stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy with both halves, but I was happier in the second half when we we\u2019re taking shot after shot,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI think we hit the crossbar once, the post once and the goalkeeper twice with an open goal. The keeper came out and did his job, you know, made himself big, and that was big for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had our chances, but it just shows that we\u2019re not there yet attacking-wise. We can possess the ball all night long, but it does us no good if we can\u2019t get it into the back of the net. I think what I want my guys to take away from this is that we\u2019re going to have to learn fast to execute up top.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis credited Garcia and the Golden Eagle coaching staff for making changes not only between halves, but between the first and second meetings between the teams. Surry Central was 3-6-1 after playing Forbush in September, but followed the match with a tie and then six consecutive victories.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had all the possession, it seemed like, for the second half,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe were sort of letting them have possession a little bit, but not in the area of the field that I wanted. We\u2019re trying to counter them because we know they\u2019re coming forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the scoreboard tilted in the Falcons favor, both coaches agreed it wasn\u2019t indicative of how close the game was at points. The coaches also concurred that the game\u2019s environment \u2013 particularly in the second half \u2013 was great preparation for the postseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know they\u2019re coming at you because they\u2019ve got to win,\u201d Davis said, referencing Central\u2019s second-half resurgence after going down 2-0. \u201cThe coaches did a really good job of changing the formation a little bit, moving [Eli Gonzalez] to a different spot and adding some more offense. We were chasing our tail there for about 15 minutes trying to figure it out. Once that third goal went in, though, it kind of put the nail in the coffin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forbush\u2019s ability to finish made the difference in the game.<\/p>\n
The teams were scoreless through 18 minutes of play until the Falcons\u2019 Donovan Mingus netted 40-yard screamer to catch the Eagles off-guard. Five minutes later, Axel Garcia stood at the top of Surry Central\u2019s 18 and found an open Bryan Galarza cutting through the box to his left. Galarza faced a sharp angle, but the lefty hit the far side-netting to double the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe settle down and we play better when we score first,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWith them knowing they have to win now they have to score two goals. We can kind of sit back a little bit more and pick our spots, try to pick them apart. They\u2019ve got to expose themselves a little bit more and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mingus struck again from distance in the 66th minute, putting an end to Central\u2019s big comeback.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a brain fart, honestly,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly how they hit us the first time when we played last time too. The guys just forgot that all Forbush\u2019s guys can go from far, compared to us where we don\u2019t really have that type of player yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the second goal I think we were too worried about stopping another long shot that we stepped too far into the middle and it opened up the side. Plus, the guy that scored just had a heck of a finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both squads look to maintain their top spots in the conference while also preparing for playoffs as the season winds down. Garcia saw Monday\u2019s match as a learning experience that he hopes the team will use as motivation in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want our guys to realize they can hang with any team,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cIt may not show on the scoreboard just because we\u2019re young up top with a sophomore and a freshman, but we\u2019re going to have to have to realize we are good. We\u2019re going to have to get over this and not think we\u2019re not a good team just because we haven\u2019t been able to beat Forbush. In my opinion, I think we can hang with just about any team and our moment will come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forbush, meanwhile, has a pair of nonconference friendlies scheduled for the final two weeks of the season in addition to conference play. The Falcons go on the road against the 2A West\u2019s No. 7-ranked team North Forsyth (13-4-2, 10-0 Mid-State 2A) on Oct. 20, the finish the regular season by facing the 1A West\u2019s No. 2-ranked team Mount Airy (17-0, 10-0 Northwest 1A) on Oct. 27.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think those games are more preparation, so we\u2019ll take a more relaxed atmosphere. The guys want to win them all, and I never like to lose, but it\u2019s nice to see a playoff-type team before you go to playoffs. Then you get sort of an idea of what you need to fix going right in. You don\u2019t want injuries or things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scoring<\/p>\n
Forbush \u2013 2, 1 = 3<\/p>\n
Surry Central \u2013 0, 0 = 0<\/p>\n
Goals<\/p>\n
1H<\/p>\n
18\u2019 Forbush 0-1, Donovan Mingus unassisted<\/p>\n
23\u2019 Forbush 0-2, Bryan Galarza from Axel Garcia assist<\/p>\n
2H<\/p>\n
66\u2019 Forbush 0-3, Donovan Mingus unassisted<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nReach Cory on Twitter @MaNewsSports<\/p>\n
<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forbush\u2019s David Medina ( 16) dribbles around Surry Central\u2019s Jacxon Gutierrez (11). DOBSON \u2014 Forbush took a two-match lead in the Foothills 2A Conference by defeating Surry Central 3-0 on Oct. 17. Similar to the teams\u2019 first encounter on Sept. 21, the undefeated Falcons struck first and held a 2-0 advantage at halftime. The Golden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[45],"tags":[3833,11983,4383,7980,1493],"class_list":["post-33242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ripple","tag-broken","tag-centrals","tag-forbush","tag-streak","tag-win"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/129025222_web1_DSC_3245-2-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33244,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33242\/revisions\/33244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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