Shelbyville Central's Golden Eagle soccer tea has had a very busy past few days, playing three matches since Saturday.
SATURDAY
The Golden Eagles (6-5-1, 4-1-0) ventured to Brentwood to face the nationally ranked No. 4 ranked from the latest United Soccer Coaches poll and fell 4-1.
Brentwood scored two goals off of Eagle defensive errors and loss of focus in the first 10 minutes.
Fernando Gallardo drew a penalty that Yahir Cervantes put in the back of the net to cut the lead to 2-1 at the intermission.
"In the second half, it was a real battle but they kept us pinned on our side of the field. Ultimately, we cracked with about 11 minutes left in the game and a ton of pressure on our backline," Shelbyville Central coach Chris Fritz said.
"The biggest takeaway from this game should be that to compete with this level of teams we need to have complete focus and discipline especially since these teams will be coming into our region next year."
MONDAY
Shelbyville Central rolled past Warren County 4-1 at home last night.
"We came out flat and couldn’t connect, so they took an early lead," Fritz said. "We changed our shape in the second half and encouraged them to attack their backline more."
Brandon Cruz started the scoring with a deflection off of a left-footed shot .
Arnold Avila was assisted by Yahir Cervantes for two more goals including one with a slick turn that Arnold buried off of his weak foot.
"We have been waiting for these two to connect since they both are skillful players with creative ideas," Fritz said.
The final goal was scored by Yahir Cervantes assisted by freshman Fernando Gallardo.
TUESDAY
The Golden Eagle edged Warren County 1-0 on the road.
"We dictated the tempo of the play from start to end. We had numerous chances that were either missed or too sloppy to put in the back of the net," Fritz said.
"Our pressure was great and our right wing Brandon Cruz was involved in numerous offensive and defensive plays to create key moments."
The lone score of the game came off the foot of Yahir Cervantes .
"A road win in our district is always hard to come by, so I am proud of the boys for this effort," Fritz said.