The Salem High soccer teams trounced Carroll County on Tuesday, but it won’t be so easy this Friday as the Spartans take on Blacksburg.
Salem’s boys are at Blacksburg and the girls are home for a 7 pm game at Spartan Field on Friday night. The Bruins are always tough, both boys and girls, and this year is no exception.
The Spartan teams are coming off lopsided wins over Carroll County, as the boys won 7-1 and the girls won 8-0. The girls’ game was shortened by the mercy rule but the boys played the entire game, and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“We had 22 healthy players and everyone got in the game,” said boys’ coach Dean Jones. “That probably wouldn’t have happened if they had ended it early.”
Salem had seven different players score. Drew Benne, Harry Kennedy, Noah Turner, Alec Mowry and Jett Sable all scored in the first half as Salem led 5-0 at intermission. Will Snyder and Sahil Patel had two assists each in the first half, and both had goals in the second half to close out the win.
It was the second win in a row for the Spartans, who evened their record at 2-2-1. Salem beat Christiansburg at home last Friday, 2-1. Mowry scored both goals, one on a penalty kick and the other on a nice give-and-go from Benne, with Drew getting the assist.
Salem lost at Franklin County last Wednesday, 2-1. Turner scored the only goal off a Mowry corner kick in the second half to cut the lead to 2-1, but Salem couldn’t get the equalizer.
“I thought we outplayed them,” said Jones. “They won the first half and we won the second half, but unfortunately they scored one more goal in their half.”
The girls won two lopsided shutouts in the past week. Last Thursday they beat Pulaski County,13-0, after leading 11-0 at the half. Hannah Coulling, Lily Barnes, Abby Mason and Kristen Honaker had two goals each and Evyn Magenbauer, Mallory Edwards, Morgan Brooks, Rachel Massey and Haley Fedison had one each. Magenbauer also had five assists and Mason had two.
On Tuesday at home Salem shutout Carroll 8-0. Magenbauer had two goals and two assists and Edwards scored twice. Ellie Laub, Coulling, Massey and Barnes had one goal each and Brooks and Coulling had two assists each.
The Spartans, now 3-1, did not allow a shot on goal in either game, but that will change tomorrow against Blacksburg. Likewise when the Spartans play Cave Spring next Tuesday, with the girls at home and the boys at Cave Spring.