By Leeann Tanner - Staff Writer
The Vikings’ soccer team took down Fleming County Tuesday night in the first round of the 21st District Tournament, 7-1.
Rowan went into the contest down two starters. Brent Ison and Nick Thaxton were both out with the flu, but Will Fleck took over the backfield and kept Fleming out of scoring position for most of the game.
“They didn’t get past midfield,” Coach Alan Evans said. “We were able to out possess them and control the ball.”
With a 2-0 lead in the first half of the game, Fleck dribbled out of the backfield with a turnover. Fleming took possession and slipped a goal past Madison Justice at keeper for their solo goal of the game.
Markus Hauschild led the Vikings in scoring with three goals. James Scott White, Carlton Duvall, Danny Weigel, and Alex Bowling had one goal each. Bowling, Nathan Ray, Will Fleck, Trevor Newsome, Carlton Duvall, and Alex Marin each had assists.
“Fleming has an inexperienced team,” Evans said. “Their keeper sits on his line and he couldn’t cut off the angle there. It made it easy to score goals in a one-on-one situation.”
The Panthers have a beginning program, and were obviously overwhelmed by the powerful Vikings, most of who have been kicking a soccer ball since they could walk.
“Even our freshman can compete on a varsity level, which says a lot about our feeder program,” Evans said. “We were able to get everyone on the team into the game, and even our reserves were able to get some goals.”
The Vikings played host to Menifee Thursday (after press time) for the Championship game. The Wildcats beat Bath County in their first round match up Tuesday, 2-0.
Rowan and Menifee match up once during the regular season, with the Vikings coming out on top, 7-0.
“They are going to be very excited about upsetting Bath,” Evans said in a pre-game interview. “We are going to be dealing with a lot of elements. It’s going to be wet and in the low 40’s. Adjustments will need to be made clearly and quickly in order for us to win.”
The winner of Thursday’s game will host the Regional Tournament next week.
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