PDL Game Report
Thursday, July 3, 2014
BLUEFIELD, W.V. -- The Southern West Virginia King's Warriors maintained their undefeated home record this season as they took a 3-1 victory against the River City Rovers on Thursday night at the East River Soccer Complex. The Rovers had entered the contest on a five-game undefeated run, but the King's Warriors took victory to boost their playoff hopes behind goals from Jake Ramsey as they rallied from a halftime deficit.
"In the first half we created chances and we just didn't finish," said Ramsay. "It was important to keep pushing in the second half and we did that pretty good."
River City (3-4-3 for 12 points) took the lead in the 38th minute as Alejandro Garcia got behind the King's Warriors' defense and slotted one home just inside the far post for a 1-0 Rovers' lead. Ace Gonya assisted on the goal, and the Rovers carried the lead to the halftime break. The goal was just the fourth the King's Warriors have conceded at home this season, but they responded four minutes into the second half as Ramsay scored his first of two goals off a feed from Gideon Asante.
Southern West Virginia took the lead in the 71st minute as Josh Kremer's corner kick was headed in by Jeremy Payne to give the King's Warriors a 2-1 advantage, and then eight minutes later Ramsay scored his second of the night off an assist from Payne to take a two-goal lead and wrap up a crucial three points.
"It wasn't just what I said, it was what our whole coaching staff said," said King's Warrior's coach Scott Reitnour of his side's halftime turnaround. "Assistant coach] Paul Cox gave a great breakdown of our midfield rotation and his contributions were substantial. I talked about the fact that soccer is a game of opposites. You play short to play long, you play left to play right and you go wide to play inside. But at the end of the day coaches coach and players play, so credit to the guys for going out there and doing what they needed to do to put the ball in the back of the net."
Not only did Southern West Virginia (5-4-2 for 17 points) increase its home unbeaten streak to five games and earn a season-high and lifetime-best three-game winning streak, but the King's Warriors are now solidly back in the hunt for the South Atlantic Division title and a playoff berth. The King's Warriors trail the first-place West Virginia Chaos by only four points and also hold a game in hand on their in-state rivals. The Chaos and King's Warriors both close out their regular seasons against each other on Saturday, July 19 in Bluefield.
The King's Warriors' next game is set for Saturday, July 12 when Southern West Virginia will travel to Louisville, Ky. to close out their three-game season series with the River City Rovers. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
The King's Warriors next home game will be Tuesday, July 15 at 7 p.m. when the Carolina Dynamo comes to Bluefield. A 15-minute fireworks display will take place following the game.