Hornets open with shutouts

Staff
Published: March 20, 2008

The Orange County High School boys soccer team is off to a hot start with three shutout wins to open the season.

A week ago, the Hornets traveled to Culpeper to face the Blue Devils and the Orange boys didn’t waste much time taking care of business.

With three first-half goals, the Hornets jumped out to an early lead and never gave Culpeper much chance in the season-opener for both clubs.

Alex Rosales opened the scoring for Orange, followed by a goal from Ethan Biggs. Antonio Flores scored the Hornets last goal on a penalty kick less than two minutes before intermission.

Orange came back a night later and blanked the homestanding Mountaineers 4-0 in Madison.

Monday night, the Hornets again faced the Blue Devils-this time in Orange.
It didn’t make any difference. The Hornets blanked Culpeper again 3-0.
Matt Cronin scored the first goal on an assist from Josh Moon. Cody Fincham scored the Hornets’ second goal on an assist from Cronin.

Alex Rosales scored the Hornets’ final goal on an assist from Ben Freeman.
Three games into his first season as varsity head coach Dwane Pugh likes what he sees from his Hornets so far.

Pugh spent the last seven years as Orange’s JV coach and is familiar with all but a couple of this year’s varsity Hornets.

“We lost a lot of players from last year’s squad, but we have 12 returning players,“ Pugh noted. “They’re very talented.“

One of his goals this year is to keep his Hornets fresh for a possible postseason run.

In the state quarterfinal game a year ago, Orange had seven starters that were beaten and banged up by the season’s end.

Pugh said he’s less worried now about securing early season shutouts than he is about being healthy down the stretch.

One of the ways he plans to do that is by going deep in his bench and cycling players through different positions.

“One of our strengths is our flexibility,“ he said. “We have a lot of interchangeable parts. And, our team chemistry has improved.“

Pugh said he senses an excitement among his players as they understand the kind of soccer he’s encouraging them to play.

That excitement likely will be tempered once the Hornets begin Jefferson District play and face the likes of Charlottesville and Western Albemarle.
“Top to bottom, we have as tough a competition as anyone,“ Pugh said. “But, to be the best, we’ve got to beat the best.“

In order to do that, the Hornets will need to take advantage of what scoring opportunities they do get against some of the tougher teams.
“We may only get three or four or five opportunities and we need to convert in those situations,“ he added.

So far, the Hornets are off to a good start.