Regulation time was nearing its end Wednesday night when Polk County soccer coach Lennox Charles had a sense of deja vu.
Earlier this season, Polk County defeated Avery on a late goal by Luis Hernandez. With the two teams knotted at 1-1 and seemingly headed for overtime, Charles wondered if another goal in the waning minutes might be in the offing.
“With about three minutes left, I told (assistant coach Josh Trejo) that we needed another Luis,” Charles said.
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Moments later, that hero emerged. Isaias Akers converted a breakaway opportunity with 1:24 remaining in the match to lift Polk County to a 2-1 victory over Avery in a Western Highlands Conference battle at G.M. Tennant Stadium.
With the Vikings (4-13, 3-6) pressing forward in the closing minutes and looking for a winner of their own, Polk County (10-8-1, 7-2) blunted that charge and put together its clinching possession.
Sam Korzelius lofted a perfect pass downfield over Akers and three Avery defenders, creating a footrace for the ball that Akers won. The senior dribbled into the penalty area and easily beat the Avery keeper to his right side, hammering a low shot into the left corner of the goal to give Polk County its fifth straight win.
“This pretty much mirrored the first game,” Charles said. “We won the first game 1-0 and Luis scored in the 75th or 76th minute. Today we were a little bit better and scored in the 79th minute.
“They were actually more aggressive and more physical in this game than in the first game. It took us a little while to adjust. We changed our formation midway through the half. We’ve been working on playing three forwards and three midfielders, and that helped us a little deal with their guys in midfield.”
An Akers goal midway through the first half gave Polk County a 1-0 lead, but Avery posted the equalizer just before the half. The Vikings came into the game off a loss to conference leader Hendersonville on penalty kicks, and that near win over the unbeaten Bearcats seemed to give Avery plenty of confidence early.
“In the first half they bullied us,” Charles said. “In the second half we matched up a lot better. We matched their intensity.
“Sam and a couple of the other guys in midfield stepped up and matched the physical part of it, and once we matched that, we had some success.”
Polk County next hosts Owen on Wednesday in what will be Senior Night and the final regular-season home match for the Wolverines.
In other recent games for the Wolverines:
Polk County 3, Highlands 1
The Wolverines took a non-conference win on Saturday in their annual meeting with Highlands.
Luis Hernandez and Isaias Akers scored first-half goals to give Polk County a 2-0 lead at the break. Isaac Edwards then tallied in the 73rd minute before Highlands added a late goal.
Polk County 8, Mitchell 4
The Wolverines needed overtime to win a wild Western Highlands Conference match in Ledger on Monday.
Polk County roared to a 4-0 halftime lead as Salvador Chavez scored two goals and Sam Korzelius and Luis Hernandez each tallied.
But Mitchell, still looking for its first win of the season, stormed back in the second half, tying the match with five minutes remaining to force the extra time.
Isaias Akers scored in the 87th minute to give Polk County the lead before Hernandez scored twice and Isaac Edwards scored once in a five-minute span for the final margin.
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