WEEKI WACHEE – Both Nature Coast and Weeki Wachee had 40 minutes to be happy with on Wednesday night.
Problem for both teams was the Class 3A, District 7 boys soccer match lasted 80, and as a result it concluded in a 1-1 tie.
“We never play for a tie, but it was good to get the tie,” said Nature Coast sophomore Hunter Reid. “We let them control the first half. Came back in the second half, switched our formation and really, we showed them up. We possessed. We played the ball. We held the ball in the second half.”
For most of the first half, the visiting Sharks (4-3-2 overall, 2-2-2 3A-7) could barely get the ball across midfield. The keeper for the Hornets (3-1-2 overall, 3-1-2 3A-7), Jake Brooks, never even had to make a save.
In the 19th minute, Bailey Hypes took a ball that went off a defender and scored on a breakaway to give Weeki Wachee a 1-0 advantage.
“Early for us was just applying a lot of pressure to them and then possessing the ball, getting the ball on our foot, off our foot,” Weeki Wachee head coach Shane Tarbox said. “And then they came out the second half and did the same thing to us and kind of got us back on our heels for a little while. I think after the second half started going a little bit more it kind of just evened out and it was back and forth from there.”
Only two minutes into the second half, Nature Coast knotted it up as Vinny Stulec found Reid for a goal.
“Just had to take the chance, bury it low and just get the tie,” Reid said.
Tarbox immediately began arguing with the officials, believing play should have been stopped as one of his players was on the ground with an injury. The Hornets could never completely recapture the momentum, with Brooks having to make eight saves in a considerably different second half, one more than counterpart Brian Urling had the entire match.
“This one kind of feels more like a loss, but it’s better than losing the game. I definitely think we should have won that,” Tarbox said. “Unfortunately they got the one call, no-call, whatever you want to say it is, and they took advantage of that opportunity.
“We just need to possess the ball, maintain our pressure and finish our opportunities. That first half could have easily been 4-0. Couple of them hit off the post. Nothing you can do about that.”
Interestingly, these two county rivals will face again at Nature Coast on Monday. Both will be looking to build on their respective positive halves from this one.
“Wins or losses are irrelevant for us right now because we’re still trying to find our team,” Nature Coast head coach Ian Wald said. “We played without two starters tonight. We’re trying to figure things out and piece things together. We still don’t know what we’re going to do.
“Forget the win and the loss; the second half we improved. That’s what I care about. We made a change, the change worked. The result’s irrelevant, all that matters is (the postseason) January.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.