By Kyle Parmley
TRUSSVILLE — Thank goodness for the orange soccer ball.
On a night with wet field conditions and a fog that made it difficult to see from one side of the field to the other, Mountain Brook controlled possession for the majority of the game and defeated the Hewitt-Trussville boys soccer team, 5-1, Tuesday night at the Trussville Civic Center.
Without the brightly colored ball, the teams may not have been able to see the ball well enough to score at all. But both teams put a dent in the scoreboard early on and settled into the game.
Mountain Brook (5-3-2) drew a penalty kick less than six minutes into the contest. Brother Swagler easily beat the goalkeeper to give his team a 1-0 advantage. Immediately after resuming play, the Spartans threatened once again. Ethan Harradine found space in the middle of the field and fired a shot on goal, but Keaton Vickers stretched his arm high above his head to swat the ball out of play.
The Huskies didn’t wait long to respond. A few minutes later, a foul on Mountain Brook gave Hewitt-Trussville a free kick just shy of the corner. Mitchell Disharoon did the rest, impressively curving the ball on goal, deflecting off the goalkeeper’s arm and into the goal to tie the score.
Hewitt-Trussville (2-5-1) gave up the second goal in a bout of misfortune. The Huskies stopped a Spartan breakaway, and redirected the ball toward the corner. Mountain Brook’s Andrew Frese just turned around and kicked the ball toward the net without much velocity, but Vickers slipped and fell, and the ball deflected into the net.
With just over 13 minutes remaining in the first half, Harradine once again found space, and made no mistake. He scorched the top left corner of the net to give the Spartans the 3-1 edge they would take into the break.
The Huskies had one good scoring chance in the second half, as Luke Searcy put forth a good centering feed towards the goal, but a Mountain Brook defender headed it away harmlessly.
Despite seniors scoring four of the five goals for his team, Mountain Brook head coach Joe Webb is more impressed with his class of freshmen.
“The seniors have played well, but the freshmen have been the ones to step up. They are a very talented group,” he said.
As for when the two teams meet again, Webb expects a tough battle.
“I expect the rematch to be quite different,” he said.
The Lady Huskies were also in action Tuesday, as they traveled to take on an undefeated Hoover squad. In a “very intense and physical game,” according to head coach Justin Pino, Hewitt-Trussville took the match by a tally of 3-1. Megan McGettigan, Lauren Smith, and Addie Hanchey scored goals, with McGettigan and Madison Snow notching assists in the victory. The Lady Huskies’ record now sits at 8-2.
Both Hewitt-Trussville soccer teams are back in action Friday night. The boys will make the trek to Spain Park, while the girls will travel to take on Mountain Brook.