By Kyle LoJacono
The Freedom boys soccer team picked up its first win of the season in comeback fashion against Class 4A-District 8 rival Wiregrass Ranch Nov. 27.
The 2-1 home win is also No. 1 for first-year Patriots (1-4, 1-2) coach Charlie Haueter, who said it was big to pick up the district victory.
“It’s really important because we’ve dropped two district games,” Haueter said. “We gave up a two-goal lead last game (against Sickles), so to come back and get a win is a big deal.”
The night started poorly hours before the game when five Freedom players were involved in a car accident near the school. Among them was starting midfielder Brenton VanFleet, and Chad Fox and Felipe Garcia.
Things didn’t get better early for the Patriots.
The Bulls (5-2, 1-2) took an early lead when Bryce Wilson headed forward a pass that was put away by Jacob Spana.
Wiregrass Ranch maintained the lead until Derik Harvery scored twice in the final 15 minutes.
Senior midfielder headed in a free kick taken by Ben Wasserman from 30 yards out with 15 minutes remaining, followed by the game-winning tally seven minutes later assisted by Jett Wright.
“At halftime we said we need to be more physical and communicate better because we weren’t talking,” Harvery said. “We talked a lot more, made more passes and it worked for us.”
Junior goalkeeper Nate Brown returned to the Patriots’ lineup after missing the previous three games with a strained groin. He made eight saves, many of which seemed destined for the back of the net.
“The greatest part about Nate is nobody gets more upset, angry and mad at halftime when we’re down a goal,” Haueter said. “He takes it very, very personally. After I let them have a team chat at halftime, he walked up to me and said we’re not going to lose this game. He was so angry they scored the goal they did. When you get a guy like Nate motivated, he’s going to play that great and make crazy saves for a little tiny guy.”
Brown said he talked about keeping the defense tight during halftime.
“They were literally just walking into our defense constantly,” Brown said. “That fluke goal they got they walked right in, so we need to stop doing that. Then I told the midfielders to start passing the ball more because we were just playing kickball the whole game. When we started possessing the ball it got a lot better.”
Harvey said the victory could be a turning point.
“I think you’re going to see us start winning games because of this,” Harvery said. “We’ve been practicing a lot harder and communicating as a team, so it’s been building to this.”
Freedom had a similar victory last year against district rival Gaither.
The Patriots were two games below .500 when they defeated the Cowboys 1-0 last season. The momentum helped Freedom secure the No. 1 district seed and make the playoffs for the first time in three years.
“I’m hoping it’s the same thing,” Brown said. “Right now we can only hope and work hard each day.”
Freedom plays at Strawberry Crest Dec. 5 and at 4A-8 opponent Chamberlain Dec. 7. Both games start at 8 p.m.
Wiregrass Ranch traveled to Mitchell Dec. 3, but results were not available by press time. The Bulls host Brooks-DeBartolo Dec. 5 and 4A-8 opponent Gaither Dec. 7. Both games start at 8 p.m.
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
