Polk County soccer coach George Alley considered Wednesday’s opponent and gave Asheville credit.
“That’s a really good team,” Alley said. “That team probably beats us nine out of 10 times.”
Wednesday was that one.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
Polk County turned frantic offense into a penalty kick goal, took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half and made it stand up with excellent defense and a stunning performance from keeper Charlie Wagoner to defeat the Cougars 1-0.
“Charlie was unbelievable,” Alley said. “His positioning was spot-on, his reactions were there and he had the best game of his career. And I’m happy for him.”
Polk County (5-0-2) pressed the issue from the very beginning. The Wolverines had a shot within the first four minutes of the match, and never let up. Cooper Meyer had three chances in two minutes, sending two wide and seeing one saved.
As the teams settled in with 10 minutes of the match gone, the action picked up. Asheville keeper Henry Mays made a save, and the Cougars (6-3) were off to the races. Greyson Stenhouse had two chances, one turned away by Will Garrison, who raced to the near post to defend when Wagoner came out to challenge, and another turned away by Wagoner.
“We like to go at teams,” Alley said. “That might expose you sometimes, but we like to attack with our guys out of the back, too. We went at them.”
Polk County’s goal came as a direct result of some of the chaos in Asheville’s offensive end. River Harlan’s shot hit the near post squarely and bounded to Polk County, and two long passes resulted in a penalty in the box. Thomas Varnadore stepped up and calmly buried the attempt, giving the Wolverines a 1-0 advantage at the 24:24 mark.
And that was it. Despite a ton of good looks both ways, nobody could find the net the rest of the way.
“They possess the ball really well, and they’re really technical,” Alley said of Asheville. “We made an adjustment at the half and tried to clog them up a little bit, and I think it worked, and that last 10 minutes were just trying to hang on.”
The last 10 minutes were indeed an adventure for the Wolverines. The Cougars came close to knotting the score on a number of occasions, with the most promising chance coming with 1:15 to play. Asheville got free on a long run, but Mason Hudson’s challenge from behind the ball poked it out of bounds, and the Wolverines were able to avoid the threat and run out the clock.
“They definitely had a height advantage so we had some serious concerns about corners,” Alley said. “We were trying not to concede corners, but we did. Number 7 (Stenhouse) their forward, he doesn’t miss much. And he didn’t. But that goes back to Charlie having a great game.”
