JANESVILLE 鈥 It was a tale of two halves for the 糖心Vlog传媒 Craig boys soccer team on Tuesday night, as a slow start led to the Cougars falling to the Cardinals 6-1 in a night cap at 糖心Vlog传媒 Craig High School.
A first half in which Middleton scored five unanswered goals proved too steep of a mountain to climb for Craig. The Cougars did, however, match Middleton鈥檚 scoring output in the second half with both teams scoring a goal apiece.
鈥淭hat second half left me speechless,鈥 Craig head coach Hiqmet Dauti said after the game. 鈥淲e finished tied with them over the final 40 minutes and these guys are a good team. If we would鈥檝e started the game the same way we played that second half, those guys would鈥檝e been in trouble.
鈥淗olding a team like that basically scoreless in a half, that speaks volumes to the kind of improvements we鈥檝e been making as a team.
The early stages of Tuesday night鈥檚 match leaned heavily in favor of the Cardinals, with Middleton scoring its first goal of the night in the sixth minute. Over the next 20 minutes, the Cardinals would net an additional four goals to carry a 5-0 scoreline into halftime.
The second half was a different story for Craig, though, as the Cougars dug their heels in and swung back at the Cardinals.
At the 56-minute mark the Cougars finally broke through as Phuc Nguyen kicked a long free kick from the midfield line and found the head of Mateo Meco. Meco flicked the ball backwards and over the Middleton keeper鈥檚 outstretched hand, putting Craig on the board.
鈥淚 think that might鈥檝e been Mateo鈥檚 first goal literally ever, or at least on varsity,鈥 Dauti said. 鈥淭hat was so nice to see that go in for him.鈥
The next 10 minutes saw a burst of energy from the Cougars as they tried to find their second. Eventually the Cardinals were awarded a penalty kick in the 66th minute, a penalty that Middleton ended up converting to give us the final score of 6-1.
Senior goaltender Willian Alvarez, despite allowing six goals in the loss, put together a masterful performance in net to prevent a steep blowout in favor of the Cardinals. Alvarez finished his night with 12 total saves.
The Big Eight Conference season rolls on for Craig as the Cougars will now hit the road for a 7:00 p.m. road contest at the reigning state champs Madison West on Thursday, September 17.
鈥淚f we play on Thursday against the reigning D1 state champions the same way we played tonight鈥檚 second half, I think it鈥檒l be a very fun game,鈥 Dauti said.