Gallery by Tina Laney
The Shady Spring Boys Soccer team collected two dominant wins over James Monroe during the regular season.
Wednesday night when the two teams clashed in the Class AA-A Region 3, Section 1 semifinals, it was more of the same for the Tigers.
Scoring in the first two minutes, Shady Spring raced out to a 5-0 lead at the half on the way to an 8-0 win.
The Tigers will now host PikeView Saturday at 5 p.m. at H.B. Thomas Field for the sectional title. The Panthers were a 6-0 winner over Bluefield Wednesday.
“I was really pleased with the focus, the attention to detail and the effort they played with from the beginning to end,” Shady Spring head coach Josiah Smith said. “That goes from the starting 11 to everybody who played. They all gave a really solid performance tonight.”
Prior to the start of the match, Smith implored his team to start quick and maintain heavy pressure on the Mavericks who came in looking for the shocking upset.
Nathan Vecellio obliged his coach and set the tone almost immediately for the home team.
Getting on the back end of a beautiful corner kick from Parker Lester, the senior striker scored on a header for the 1-0 lead in just the second minute of play.
“We went in knowing we could not lose this game because it was a sectional game,” Vecellio said. “Lose this game and your out. We needed the win and we got it today.”
Freshman Evan Rivera doubled the advantage in the 10th minute on an assist from Gage Lemley. The lead increased to 3-0 when Vecellio scored his second goal four minutes later off the foot of Ezra Smith.
Before the visitors could blink, they were in a monumental hole to the possession heavy Tigers.
“We worked the ball around a lot, got me some open chances and I was able to finish them,” Vecellio said.
Shady Spring basically put the match to bed when it closed out the first half with two quick strikes for the five goal margin at the break.
Vecellio served up a nice ball to Rivera who knocked in his second goal in the 32nd minute before he completed his first half hat trick a minute later on an assist from Luke Mackay.
“Nate is the best player in the state. That is my opinion,” Smith said, confidently. “I think if you ask coaches who have to coach against him, they will agree. He is a phenomenal player that is dynamic and he is a team player. Nate is unselfish and just a massive impact player for us. He can score from anywhere and he sets people up. He does it all.”
Any hope of a rally from James Monroe was quickly dashed by two goals in the first four minutes of the second half, both set up by Ezra Smith for a hat trick on asissts.
Vecellio was the first benefactor giving him four goals in the contest before Smith played the ball to Rivera for his first hat trick of the season.
“Evan is lightning fast and has so much soccer experience. He loves the game and he loves to work for the team,” coach Smith said. “It was so good to see him get the hat trick tonight. He has several games with two goals, but not the hat trick. The moment did not intimidate him. He was calm, very settled and he played really smart.”
Micah Smith added the final goal of the night for the 8-0 margin of victory.
Now the defending sectional champions turn their attention to PikeView which promises to be a hard fought battle.
“PikeView is so solid and has several incredible players. They are well coached and well organized. They are a phenomenal program,” Smith said. “We know they are going to give us a great game. We have to play at our top level to stay with them and to beat them. I like the dynamic of the rivalry that is setting up between us and them.”
Shady Spring won the first regular season match with the Panthers, 2-0 at home before the two rivals battled to a 0-0 draw in Gardner.
The initial win was a key component to playing the game in Raleigh County.
“We love playing here and we play really well here. We love moving the ball. We love the communication and the atmosphere. We love the support of our fans,” Smith said. “It was a big goal going into the season, being able to host throughout the postseason. That was mission No. 1. The win tonight was mission No. 2. Winning that final, giving our best effort and performance is mission No. 3.”
Vecellio talked about what it will take for Shady to get past PikeView.
“We have to play like we did today,” Vecellio said. “We have to pass the ball and maybe be a little more active without the ball.”
The winner of Saturday’s game advances to the regional round Thursday, Oct. 31 in Charleston.
