Lady Trojans survive York comeback, post 4-3 victory

New Kent’s Lady Trojans built a 4-0 first half lead and then held off a late second half York surge to upset the visiting Falcons 4-3 in Bay Rivers District soccer.

The hosts owned their 4-0 advantage with just under six minutes left in the opening half, but the Falcons scored just before the break and added two quick goals over a two-minute span in the game’s waning moments. The Falcons dominated in the second half, firing eight shots on goal to New Kent’s three.

“That was the longest 40 minutes of my life,” New Kent coach Chad Honeycutt said after watching York come close to wiping out his team’s lead. “This is our first district win other than Smithfield, and it’s a big monkey off our backs.”

And it was the Lady Trojans’ first in Bay Rivers this season, upping their record to 1-4 in the district and 3-5 overall.

“This team beat us 10-0 last year,” he went on. “They wore us down at the end, but we played with a lot of heart and for each other tonight. I can’t say how proud I am of these girls. We’ve come a long way in five years.”

Less than three minutes into the match, New Kent vaulted in front on Cristen Odom’s breakaway shot past York defenders and under the save try by Falcon keeper Annie Brooks.

Thirteen minutes in, Abby McIninch blasted a shot past Brooks. Then with just under 11 minutes left in the half, Casey Spencer took a McIninch pass from the middle to pound another shot into the Falcon goal, opening a 3-0 lead.

Five minutes later, Spencer returned the favor, passing to McIninch who booted her second goal. New Kent appeared to be cruising to a first half shutout, but the Falcons’ Uma Balakumar lofted a long range shot over the head of keeper Laura Smith to get the visitors on the scoreboard with less than four minutes to go in the half.

For the rest of the match, York outshot New Kent 10-3 with Smith making six saves. Lady Trojan defenders held off the Falcons until Amanda Berrios found an opening on the left side to pass to Alyssa Howell in front of the net for a shot that cut the deficit to 4-2 with just under eight minutes to play.

Two minutes later, Berrios repeated the play, but Howell’s header missed. Balakumar, however, snared the rebound, passing back Berrios for a close range shot to pull York within one.

“I probably made a tactical mistake in the second half,” Honeycutt said. “It allowed [Berrios] to find a seam on the left side.”

The Lady Trojan defense, meanwhile, regrouped over the final minutes, holding the Falcons to one shot that was stopped by Smith.

For the match, York managed a 24-16 shot advantage. Smith registered 10 saves while Brooks managed six.