New Kent battles Prince George to a 3-3 tie in boys’ soccer

Despite rain-soaked conditions, New Kent’s Will Sutherland (4) battles Prince George’s Rudy Reyes (10) in a race for the ball.

Robb Johnson photo

A fierce back-and-forth battle resulted in a tie Monday night for New Kent High School’s boys’ soccer team.

After two halves and two overtime periods, the Trojans settled for a 3-3 tie with the Prince George Royals in a contest where the hosts could have ultimately won.

After ending the first half with a 1-1 tie, New Kent’s Grayson Yates sprinted by defenders to notch a goal within the opening minutes of the second half, resulting in the Trojans taking a 2-1 lead. However, an error by the Trojans with 22:50 remaining on the clock led to a penalty kick for Prince George. Rudy Reyes capitalized for the Royals, placing the ball in the back of the net for a 2-2 tie.

But two minutes later, Yates struck again for the Trojans. This time, Yates was able to have an easy shot after teammates baited the Royals’ goalie away from the net. The score returned the lead to the hosts at 3-2.

As time wound down, clock errors extended the contest, with the visitors taking advantage of it. A kick by Prince George was deflected by New Kent goalie Lucas Bassetti. However, the deflection was not enough to divert the flight of the ball, as it found the net to once again knot the game at three apiece. From there, both teams did not yield a goal in the remainder of regulation or overtime, concluding the contest.

New Kent Head Coach Derek Yates commented about the crucial past games and how he wanted his team to refocus against Prince George.

“We did not have the fight in our 1-0 loss to Woodson last week,” the coach said. “My message was to fight and this should have been a 3-1 game.

“We had an unnecessary penalty kick along with an easy goal in the first half,” Yates added. “The time added seemed like it was more than needed, but what can you do in that situation.”

New Kent’s record stands at 0-1-2.