Aug. 24, 2012 — It was a night to remember for the Rowan County Vikings boys soccer team as it celebrated a living legend of its program, former head coach Dave Shuster, with a prideful victory.
After taking a 2-0 lead into the half, the Rowan County Vikings were able to fend off a Harrison County comeback, winning 2-1 in dramatic last second fashion, marking its first victory of the season.
Beginning the season with two ties, Evans said he was pleased to see his boys display of one important thing…passion.
“I told them before this game started that if you want these fans to come back, you had better come out and put on a show tonight,” Evans said. “I think they really did that here tonight, and it was good to pick up a big win like this.”
There were many heroes on this night for the Vikings, but one in particular came in the form of a senior, Sebastian Taylor.
High-octane soccer took place for both forty-minute segments of the game. Taylor provided the fuel for the Vikings to pick up its first victory of the season, compiling two goals in the first half, one early and one at the midway point.
With a 2-0 advantage, Rowan saw tremendous efforts on the defensive end, including strong play by Trevor Newsome and Luke Thaxton. Inside the goal, keeper Ty Alderman put on quite the display for the home crowd, shutting down several attempts by one of the 10th Region’s best teams.
Evans spoke highly of his goalie’s play in the home opener.
“Ty had a bit of a rough go of it in our first two outings after having a great preseason for us,” Evans said. “He really played sharp tonight for us under the net tonight, and we need him to continue to stay on his toes for us.”
In the second half, fans began to get nervous as the Thorobreds scored an early goal to cut the Viking lead to one.
Gutsy play on the defensive side of the ball halted several attempts by an aggressive Harrison offense looking to get the equalizer.
Several key saves by Alderman down the stretch appeared to seal the deal for Rowan, until Harrison County was able to attain a corner kick with just a few seconds to go.
A scramble in front of the net ensued until Viking senior Mark Dameron made a game saving play to kick the ball out of the box, ending the night in victory for his team.
“We definitely needed a solid win to help us get our season started, because we were tired of the ties,” Dameron said. “It was frantic there at the end and we knew we just had to get the ball out of there as quickly as possible. That’s some great soccer right there, and it feels great to get this first win against a very good team.”
Following the victory, the Vikings traveled to Owingsville Thursday night for a matchup with the Bath County Wildcats after press time.
Be sure to pick up next Tuesday’s editon of The Morehead News for more on Viking soccer.
Grant Stevens can be reached at gstevens@themoreheadnews.com or by telephone at 784-4116.
