Four goals by Zuazo elevates New Kent to victory over King William

New Kent’s Nathan Karaffa performs a header to keep the ball on the Trojans side of the field.

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent High School’s boys’ soccer team looked at the 2022 Spring season as an opportunity to rebound from a horrendous performance last year. Now, they have strung together two victories in a row to return to having a winning record.

Behind a four-goal performance by Zahier Zuazo, New Kent dominated King William 5-0 in Friday night’s non-district match on the pitch.

The Trojans’ defense was key in the first half, thwarting all three chances King William attempted to score. Meanwhile, Zuazo put the hosts on the board with 29:17 to go in the first half. Moments later, a throw-in by Nathan Karaffa set up Zuazo’s full-speed dribble down the field, leading to a shot for goal number two as New Kent took a 2-0 lead into the halftime break.

The Trojans continued to dominate the second half scoring. Zuazo found his way to punt two more scores into the back of the net, while teammate Conner Bailey converted on a penalty kick for the other goal for the hosts. From there, New Kent’s defense held firm to prevent any type of scoring threat imposed by the visiting Cavaliers.

After the game, New Kent Head Coach Derek Yates showed optimism about his team’s victory.

“The boys were kind of tired tonight coming off our win last night [at York],” he commented. “I made some adjustments on defense last night which helped, and I went back to that tonight.

“We have been connecting on good passes and Zuazo has been making the most of his opportunities with the ball,” Yates concluded.

New Kent improves to 3-2-1 on the year.