NK records 1st goals in loss

Grafton’s visiting Clippers scored early and often in handing New Kent’s Trojans their second straight Bay Rivers District soccer loss last Thursday, but on a positive note the Trojans (0-3 overall) broke through with their first goals of the season as the final read 11-2.

The unbeaten Clippers, meanwhile, registered their first goal less than two minutes into the contest and racked up points on six of their first seven shots. One shot was a penalty kick that helped Grafton take a 6-0 lead with only 15 minutes gone in the first half.

“We definitely started slow, but we haven’t quit and we continue to fight,” Trojan coach Craig Aliff said. “Getting our first goals was a plus.”

Aliff attributed the difference in level of play between the Clippers and his team to availability of year-round play on travel teams.

“Everybody else in the district has got players from the top travel clubs,” he said. “We have two on the top club teams and probably five or six others that play travel ball but are not in the top group.”

Striker Brian Diamond led the way for the travel team rich Clippers, scoring three of the first six goals including the penalty kick.

New Kent never got off a shot until after the Clippers’ opening barrage. Keeper Ryan Woloshin blocked that shot, an open effort off the foot of striker Reid Horton.

Grafton owned a 7-0 lead at halftime and upped the advantage to 8-0 on a penalty kick five minutes into the second half.

The Trojans, however, got a break when Clipper backup keeper Markus McLean caught the ball outside the goal area for a violation. Horton alertly put the ball back in play before the Clipper defense could recover, punching a shot into the net to cut the deficit to 8-1 with 27 minutes left in the game.

Seven minutes later, Horton dribbled past Clipper defenders and drove another shot beyond McLean’s reach, trimming the Grafton lead to 8-2.

But the visitors scored their final three goals over a span of just four minutes, and New Kent got off just two shots the rest of the way.

Grafton managed a 25-7 advantage in shots. Trojan keeper Joe Jenkins recorded seven saves while his backup, Jeff Williams, was credited with one. Of four keepers utilized in goal by Grafton, only Woloshin was pressed into saves, making two.