Patriots take care of Burns

Freedom soccer wins by shutout

By: Josh McKinney | sports@morganton.com
Published: October 13, 2009

Morganton --

The field was wet and soggy, but Freedom High's soccer team could not be denied as it earned a 4-0 win over Burns High on Monday night at the Catawba River Soccer Complex.
Both teams played tremendous defense through the first 30 minutes of the first half, but Freedom's Arael Regino broke up the scoreless tie with a goal that found its way past Burns goalkeeper Jake Dew.
Freedom had many shots on goal but netted just one score in the first half. As the teams talked strategy during intermission, Freedom still clung to a 1-0 lead.
About 17 minutes into the second half, Arael Regino broke away from the Burns defenders and connected on another goal off an assist from teammate John Thor, extending Freedom's lead to 2-0.
Freedom's Alexis Regino got into the action less than 10 minutes later when he assisted on a goal by Alex Barthel. Luis Diego added another goal later in the half to give the Patriots a 4-0 advantage, which they held until the final whistle.
In the end, Freedom's goalkeeper Stephen Smith finished with four saves. On the other side, Dew recorded double-digit saves and was kept busy all game long.
After the game, Freedom head coach David Fletcher admitted that his team was a little undermanned, but he also added that he was happy with the way some other members of the team stepped up.
"Well, we were a little shorthanded tonight. We've had the flu going around Freedom and we were missing two starters and some of our guys were still a little banged up from last week, so our depth was really good tonight," Fletcher said. "We started out slow, but I thought we picked it up in the second half."
Fletcher discussed the continued great play of Arael Regino, but he did not forget to mention the contributions by the rest of his team.
"He (Arael) is our steady guy every game, you know, we kind of rely on him," Fletcher said. "But it was nice for Alex Barthel. He got knocked out early in the Patton game last week and missed the Shelby game, so for him to get a goal there was good for us. And then Luis Diego off the bench got that fourth goal. So, Arael, we really rely on him, but some of these other guys are stepping up and that's good to see."
Freedom (4-2-2 SMAC72A/3A, 7-8-3, overall) is back in action tonight as it hosts R-S Central at the Catawba River Soccer Complex.

Patriots take care of Burns

Freedom soccer wins by shutout

Share This:

More from this channel:

Reader Comments

Deal of the Day

Most Popular

More Ways to Connect

Reader Photos» Browse More

Things to Do