Coming off a tough loss to Bethel-Tate on Thursday, August 26, the Williamsburg High School boys soccer team rebounded in a big way against Ripley.

The Wildcats jumped early and led 7-0 at halftime. By the end of the contest, Williamsburg would improve to 2-1 on the season after a 10-1 win.

“It was good for us to reset, have time to see the field and work on a few things,” Williamsburg head coach Tim Pelletier said. “Our freshmen got more playing time to be able to hone their skills.”

The Wildcats were facing off against a Ripley team that has several freshmen of their own on the field. In

“If you put a freshman basketball team against a varsity basketball team, you’re going to get beat often,” Ripley head coach Gabe Scott said. “I can’t say enough about [their effort]. We have to work on conditioning a little bit more in the summer, we have to be able to put together a full game. But we’ve got a bunch of 14, 15-year-old kids playing 17 and 18-year olds the best they can. I’m proud of what they accomplish.”

Scott said the Blue Jays struggle at times to keep up with teams like the Wildcats as they move the ball around the field.

“We try to work the ball on the ground,” Scott said. “I try to religiously pass as a coach, I try to hammer that home. When we can’t keep up with those guys with the ball, the give and go and things like that, it takes us out of the game.”

While the result of the game wasn’t what the team had hoped for, there were several positives to take away from the match.

“We challenged the ball a lot more than we have the past several games,” Scott said. “A lot of guys played more minutes than they’ve been able to play. Recently we’re calling for subs and I just don’t have enough guys to keep up with them.”

Scott praised the Wildcats for their play, noting he hoped some of his players took a few things away from how Williamsburg handled attacking threats.

“You’ve got to give it to Williamsburg, they’re a well-coached team,” Scott said. “They pass the ball well, they thave a lot of offensive threats. I was telling the guys to watch their forwards and watch how much they attack the ball when they get those runs up the field.”

Williamsburg saw seven different players score a goal. Eli Jones and Blake Dean had two goals each. Zach Earley, Hayden Hollins, Mat Jones, Ethan Pelletier and Dakota Pierce scored one goal apiece. Brian Moore had an assist for the Wildcats, as did Dean. Zach Earley had two assists. One of Williamsburg’s 10 goals was an own goal by Ripley.

Tim Pelletier said the Wildcats were using the game against the BLue Jays as away to work through some things offensively while keeping the scoreline in check as best they could.

“We’re not sitting here trying to run the score up at all,” Tim Pelletier said. “Let’s look at the field a different way, pass the ball and move it around.”

Williamsburg allowed a goal with roughly 90 seconds to play in the contest, but outside of that the defense stood tall throughout the game.

“Defensively, we’re pretty happy with where we’re at,” Pelletier said. “We have a solid center, I think it’s just trying to get more practice with them together.”

.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}

Ripley’s Kevin Wilson sends the ball toward the net for the Blue Jays.
https://www.ripleybee.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/web1_RULHSoccer_2.jpgRipley’s Kevin Wilson sends the ball toward the net for the Blue Jays.

Ripley’s Jaxson Plum makes a diving attempt at a save in the first half against Williamsburg. Plum saved a Williamsburg penalty kick later in the half.
https://www.ripleybee.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/web1_RULHSoccer_4.jpgRipley’s Jaxson Plum makes a diving attempt at a save in the first half against Williamsburg. Plum saved a Williamsburg penalty kick later in the half.

https://www.ripleybee.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/web1_DSC_9478.jpg

https://www.ripleybee.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/web1_BurgSoccer.jpg

By Garth Shanklin