New Kent surrenders five first half goals, falls to Lafayette in boys’ soccer

New Kent’s Tayten Hybiak (18) tries to play a game of ball control against Lafayette’s Nicholas Valenti (20).

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Trojans entered Friday night’s soccer game without a win in their last six games. Coupled with injuries and a tough schedule, it didn’t get any better Friday night.

The visiting Lafayette Rams scored five first half goals as they dominated the hosts 7-0 in the Bay Rivers District match.

In the opening moments of the game, the Trojans came out as the aggressors, attempting several shots on goals. But as those shots failed to find the back of the net, the energy level of the hosts drained at a rapid pace. Meanwhile, Lafayette would find the back of the net just over 10 minutes into the contest as Michael Gallagher outhustled a defender and beat New Kent goalie Lucas Bassetti for a score. Four minutes later, Lafayette added goal number two on the night. The onslaught continued just 28 seconds later, as Nicholas Valenti added score number three for the visitors. Two more goals from Ryan Bieger and Spencer James helped account for Lafayette’s 5-0 lead at the break. From there, two additional scores in the second half provided the visitors with an easy win.

After the contest, New Kent Head Coach Derek Yates expressed his frustration with his team’s effort on the pitch.

“I told these guys that if everyone played with the passion and desire to win, the score would be flipped,” he said. “We have key players injured, and we need more than one or two players to step up.

“They have to want to win,” Yates added. “We simply have too many good players to keep losing due to the lack of hustle and fight, plain and simple.”

New Kent’s record falls to 2-6-1 on the season.