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Times Photo/Greg NashGUDINO: April 23 was a busy night for Stonewall Jackson goalie Edgar Gudino as Battlefield put 10 shots on the Raiders during the Bobcats' 5-0 win.
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Bobcat boys snap two-game slide with win over SJ
Local
By Dan Roem
Source: Gainesville Times
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28 2010
Perhaps the only feeling during the regular season in sports that equals a winning streak is snapping a losing streak. For the Battlefield varsity boys soccer team (5-2-1 overall), a 5-0 win over arch rival Stonewall Jackson last Friday night in Haymarket meant more than improving the team's district record to 1-1. The Bobcats came off back-to-back one-goal losses to Brentsville District and Cedar Run foe Loudoun Valley, having given up only four goals in their first five games combined. Goal keeper Jack Eaton earned three shutouts in the process. Then the wheels fell off the figurative Bobcat bus April 16 and 20, leading to the matchup against the Raiders where Battlefield could finally regain some momentum or stay in last place in the Cedar Run District. "The most important thing I would say, we got back on our feet in that game," said BHS assistant coach Carlos Del Cid. "... We got that confidence back in that game." Following midfielder Cody Cox's ice-breaking goal on a throw in from midfielder Chris Hernandez, Battlefield heavily controlled time of possession and kept the ball in Raider territory throughout the first half. Hernandez consistently found open team mates in just the right spots as he notched two assists on Battlefield's first three goals. Adam Clements helped out too by drawing out the Stonewall goal keeper with less than 11 minutes to go in the half. He tapped the ball for a routine cross pass to forward Troy Allaire, who booted the ball into the right side of the net to give Battlefield a 2-0 advantage. Del Cid said Allaire and Clements are among a group of kids who have "show a lot of improvement" as the season has progressed. "This is some natural ability" they both have, he said. "They're making all those combinations on top and letting us score many of our goals." According to the assistant coach, their job this season as been to start building up the team's offense in the back row and set up charges down the middle of the field by utilizing their sense of field presence and speed. "This is how they really collaborate," said Del Cid. That's a concept not lost on Hernandez either as he set up senior Kevin Davison when he tossed the ball on a throw in directly in front of the goal. He set up what appeared at first to be a 50/50 situation with several players from both teams crowding around the goal box. However, Hernandez hit his target as Davison rushed toward the net and poked a shot off of the crossbar to the goalie's left side. It ricocheted directly back and snuck inside the white goal line to give Davison his first-ever varsity goal and BHS a 3-0 advantage seconds before half time. Kyle Beach and Clements added insurance goals in the second half, which gave the Bobcats their biggest margin of victory of the year. "We have become a family now where everybody has been supporting one another," said Del Cid of his team's success. "There were a lot of individual members in the past that were not helping the team as a whole. We have been growing with each other."
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