After starting the 2017 season with three straight wins, Kirtland’s boys’ soccer team found itself in a bit of a slump.
The Hornets battled to a 1-1 draw with Hawken on Aug. 31 then opened September with a pair of losses. To make matters worse, Kirtland was outscored 5-0 in those two setbacks.
Thanks to three second-half goals the Hornets are back on track with a 3-1 win over visiting Perry on Thursday.
“Perry is a good team and they made it difficult for us,” said Kirtland coach John Valentic. “Being in a little bit of a slump made it that much more of a challenge.”
The two teams battled to a scoreless tie at halftime before Juan Guerra scored 45 seconds into the second half to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
“We haven’t scored a goal in a couple games and we had some really good chances but their goalie made some good saves and I thought, ‘Uh oh, is the slump going to continue?’” Valentic said. “We got some scrappy goals across, like a toe-poke in, and that gave the guys a little more confidence and then we scored two really powerful shots.”
Freshman Marko Cubela sparked the Hornets to the comeback win when he scored in the 67th minute to tie the match.
He then assisted on goals by Danny Venorsky and Joey Zovko.
“For a freshman, he gave us a little spark,” Valentic said. “I had been playing him as a defender but I know he has good skills and a hard shot, he’s pretty strong as a freshman, so I gave him some simple instructions and he did a lot more than that. It was great to see him have that kind of impact on the game.”
Kirtland’s defense then kept the Pirates from mounting a threat.
“The defense played really solid,” Valentic said. “We got caught a little bit on the one, we had a little miscommunication, but we’ve been playing really well on defense.”
The Hornets, who improved to 4-3-1 overall, travel to Independence on Tuesday.
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