Wilkins leads Veterans soccer team to playoff shutout
Beforehand, there was talk about eating.
Matthew Hearst sprinted to the bench after introductions and the national anthem and yelled, “I’m hungry.”
A teammate inquired, “We gonna eat some Panther?”
The Warhawks then spent much of the first half scolding each other for not working hard.
“We’re looking lazy,” barked goalkeeper Robert Benge. “They’re beating us to the ball.”
That was echoed by teammates and head coach Matt Roth.
But the Warhawks still cruised to a 6-0 win over Liberty County in a GHSA Class AAAA boys soccer first-round playoff game Tuesday.
Austin Krirat got the Warhawks going with a sliding goal less than five minutes into the game, and Max Wilkins scored the first of his three goals seven minutes later.
Liberty County (2-11) did manage a few shots but spent most of the night around midfield or on its own half. The Panthers did keep the Warhawks from scoring in the final 31 minutes. Krirat, Logan Luque and DeAngelo Howell also scored for the Warhawks.
FOUR WHO MATTERED
Wilkins: The sophomore had the hat trick on five shots.
Luque, Andrew Zubowicz and Garrett Roff: The midfielders have been a strength all season and were again on Tuesday, keeping control most of the game and not allowing Liberty County to get into any grooves or find any hint of momentum. Roth said the three players read each other’s games and minds well, chemistry that has paid dividends all season.
OBSERVATIONS
Chatty group: The Warhawks will communicate with each other, and it’s not always necessarily of the back-patting kind. They were on each other consistently about playing harder and that Liberty County was working harder. Roth said that the players don’t read anything into an criticism other than it’s constructive, and they listen because offerings are clearly constructive.
WORTH NOTING
On a roll: Veterans has won three in a row and hasn’t lost since falling to Mary Persons a few weeks ago.
Over the hump: There was a figurative sigh of relief for Veterans, which had lost two straight first-round games on penalty kicks.
THEY SAID IT
Wilkins: “I feel like we didn’t play to our potential, really. We’ve played a lot better in other games. The scores we won, but we really need get better and prepare for the next game.”
Roth on the overall performance: “We weren’t as crisp and clean as we should be. We were kind of relaxed and giving them too much time, and that kind of frustrated me a little bit. We can play a lot better two-touch and attacking ball than we did (Tuesday).”
Wilkins: “It was just basically … They weren’t playing better than us, but they were beating us to the ball, playing faster, playing quicker, all that kind of stuff. When another team plays quicker, you can still win, but you may not win on the field.”
Roth on his team’s balance: “I just feel like we spread the ball around so much. We’re almost unselfish to a fault, sometimes, which gets us in trouble. Then we start pressing too much.
Wilkins on seeing a subpar, for Veterans, performance coming based on practice: “I could tell. I could definitely tell. Like they say, you practice like you play, and that’s definitely how it went.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Veterans (15-4) hosts the winner of Cartersville (Region 7 third seed) and Grady (Region 6 second seed) on Tuesday.
This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 9:21 PM with the headline "Wilkins leads Veterans soccer team to playoff shutout."