By Troy Sparks
Correspondent
After dropping a match to start their season, the Whippets rebounded in grand fashion, not only piling on the offense, but curtailing Columbus’ attack on offense.
Facing Columbus, a Division 4 school, Whitewater put up 10 goals en route to its first win on the season.
The home side controlled the action the entire 90 minutes but got caught in some offsides situations by the Cardinals.
Whitewater got a pair of hat trick goals from senior midfielder Roberto Navejas and senior forward Johaly Xochipa. Senior James Dedrick, a central defender, added two goals. Senior midfielders Canyon Caputo and Dalton Chenoweth had a goal apiece.
Numbers catch up
On a cool Tuesday night under the lights, the Whitewater boys soccer team played their first regular season match at home, against Janesville Craig.
Janesville Craig brought the action to Whitewater all night in the Aug. 22 match.
The Whippets’ (4-9-4 in 2016) side was worn down by the faster, and deeper visitors, and it showed on the field throughout the 90-minute match.
In the 14th minute, senior Raul Tello placed a perfect pass to senior Zach Currie, who blasted the first of his two goals in the left corner of the goalpost for a 1-0 lead at the 31-minute, 21-second mark of the first half.
The Whippets were in position to tie the match when senior Ross March of Janesville Craig committed a foul in the penalty box. However, Navejas missed a penalty kick with 4:56 left in the half when he missed a penalty kick. The score remained 1-0 at halftime.
“I saw some good stuff and I saw some stuff we got to work on,” WHS coach John Chenoweth said.
Janesville Craig spent most of the second half on Whitewater’s side of the field. Their offensive attacks put them in position to put more goals on the board. They beat the Whippets’ defense to the ball on many occasions.
The Cougars missed more opportunities to score early in the second half when their halfbacks got ahead of the last two Whitewater defenders before the ball arrived on at least three offside calls. Two more shots on goal hit the top post.
The Cougars had more players to substitute than the Whippets. It helped them in wearing down the home team and scoring the last two goals.
Currie scored on a rebound shot in the penalty box for his second goal with 6:45 remaining in the match and a 2-0 Janesville Craig lead. And with 5:35 left, Tello hurdled over a Whitewater defender and fired a shot into the left corner for a 3-0 advantage.
“We were running pretty thin with numbers, so it was nice to get the relaxed and get some kids in the game the whole time,” Chenoweth said. “I think (our team) had tired legs. We were playing without subs.”
Janesville Craig had 17 shots on goal to Whitewater’s nine. Whitewater goalkeeper Alex Vidales had seven saves and Tyler Bienema had four saves. Janesville Craig led in the corner kicks department, 4-1.
Keeping it close vs. Edgewood
At Madison Edgewood, Aug. 26, Edgewood put pressure on Whitewater and kept the Whippets on their toes in the first half. The Crusaders scored their first goal in the first half on a header by senior Connor Cruz in the 18th minute for a 1-0 lead. Whitewater gave up its second goal near the end of the match in the 89th minute that was scored by freshman Ben Stitgen.
“Unfortunately, we were never able to get going offensively and gave up one more goal near the end of the game as we attempted to tie it up.” Chenoweth said.
Box Scores:
Aug. 22 vs. Janesville Craig
Craig 1 2 – 3
WW 0 0 – 0
Goals:
First Half JC – Zach Currie, 13:39. Second Half – JC Currie, 38:15. JC – Raul Tello, 39:25.
Aug. 24 vs. Columbus
Col 0 0 – 0
WW 6 4 – 0
Goals: N/A
Aug. 26 at Madison Edgewood
WW 0 0 – 0
ME 1 1 – 2
Goals:
First Half ME – Connor Cruz, 17:56. Second Half ME – Ben Stitgen, 88:48.
