Stephanie Sturgis - Weakley County Press Sports Editor
Posted: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 2:58 pm
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Less than 24 hours after blanking the Dyer County Choctaws, 4-0, on Friday afternoon, the Chargers (4-0) fought back from their first deficit of the season to earn a 3-2 win over the visiting Arlington Tigers on Saturday at the MTD Soccer Complex in Martin.
“I saw how we can play from behind,” a pleased Scates said of his team’s comeback effort. “We just started to do a better job of winning the mid field.”
With a strong wind in their face in the first half, WHS got its only goal of the first half when Adam Reinhard made a steal in Westview’s attacking end and fired a shot that caromed off the pipes. Westview’s Abraham Haddad was in the right spot to blast the rebound into the net for a 1-0 Westview advantage.
Arlington knotted the score at 1-all before halftime arrived.
Early in the second half, the visiting Tigers used a free kick to center a pass to the middle. From there a low shot slid past diving Charger goalkeeper Scout Edwards to put Arlington in front, 2-1, with only half a minute gone off the clock.
The Chargers kept applying the pressure and it eventually paid off. Westview’s Nic Fortner was fouled on a tackle, giving WHS a direct kick just outside the penalty box. With Arlington still trying to get a wall set up, Charger senior Will Sliger blasted a high shot over the leaping keeper for a 2-2 tie at the 64:30 mark.
Westview needed just three more minutes to take the lead for good. Haddad sailed the ball from near the right sideline toward the goal. His shot hooked and eluded the Arlington keeper to set off a celebration.
With his team in the lead, Scates shifted Haddad back on defense and the Chargers held on to win, 3-2.
Scates credited the defensive efforts of Fortner in the midfield and Noah Towe and Zach Ward on stopping Tiger penetration.
In the win over Dyer County, Reinhard notched three goals and Sliger had one goal. Haddad and Fortner each had an assist.