Polk County matched East Lincoln push for push and nearly goal for goal on Monday, holding its own with the talented Mustangs before falling 4-3 in non-conference soccer action at Polk County.
The Mustangs entered with a 1-2-1 record, but those two losses to Shelby and Charlotte Independence and a tie with Forbush. Taller and generally larger than the Wolverines at nearly every position, East Lincoln attempted to use that physicality to its advantage, doing just that in scoring the winning goal.
Tied at 3-3, East Lincoln played a corner kick short before lobbing a pass in toward defender Jose Zavala, who had come forward for the kick. Zavala went into the air and collided with Polk County goalkeeper Wilson Edwards, knocking Edwards to the ground and the ball into the goal. No foul was called, giving East Lincoln a 4-3 edge with 8:18 left in the match.
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Polk County, having already twice rallied from deficits in the match, frantically looked for the equalizer and had a final free kick from some 30 yards out with seconds remaining. But the Mustangs were able to deny Polk a good look at goal to hang on for the win.
“They play with extra people in the middle of the field, and I thought in the first half they won everything in there. They controlled everything in there,” said Polk County head coach Lennox Charles. “We were always reacting. In the first 25 minutes we never seemed to have the ball.
“We like to play with our outside (midfielders) really wide. We had to bring them inside to match up with their numbers. When we matched up with them, I thought we did really well.”
That early advantage allowed East Lincoln to build a 2-0 lead, but the Wolverines began to rally late in the first half. The comeback began when senior Jeremy Allsbrook took possession of the ball near the top of the penalty area, spun and dribbled to his right to create some room and rifled a shot into the opposite corner of the net, the tally making it 2-1 with 7:23 left in the first half.
Polk County (1-3) then evened the match early in the second half. Allsbrook began the play with possession of the ball on the right wing, pushing a pass into the penalty area to forward Wil Rimer. Rimer outraced both an East Lincoln defender and goalkeeper for the ball, pushing it past the keeper, leaping over him, then centering a pass for Isaias Akers, who tapped the cross into the open net to deadlock the match with 32:57 remaining.
East responded four minutes later with a goal to take a 3-2 lead, but the Wolverines pushed back and again tied the match. This time, Rimer nudged a 50-50 ball in the air toward Akers, who then returned the ball to Rimer, who moved into the right side of the penalty area and fired a laser just inside the right post, tying the score at 3-3 with 14:08 left.
Continuing its tough non-conference schedule, Polk County will be back at home on Thursday, hosting East Henderson at 6 p.m.
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