October 7, 2022 Game Summary --

Kingdom East North 7/8 Boys travelled to Derby to face North Country on Friday evening. The rain stopped prior to the match which made for slightly sloppy conditions. KESD moved the ball well from the opening whistle. It was easy to see the focus for KESD North was on possessing the ball. KESD opened with strong midfield play and good support up the outside flanks. KESD showed good patience in moving the ball up the field. Axel Benoit played his role at center forward perfectly, holding up the play to allow the outside players and midfielders to join the attack. When they lost possession, KESD saw the North Country team playing long balls upfield. The trio of Zane Faherty at defensive midfield and Ollie May and Lucas Switser at center backs easily ushered the ball into the wide space and turned the ball back up the field to start another KESD attack. Despite their dominating performance in possessing the ball, North Country's defense was stout in the final third of the field. Finally KESD saw an opportunity out wide and Andrew Olone blasted a tough shot from wide that went off the keeper and into the goal giving KESD a 1-0 lead. The rest of the first half saw much of the same with KESD being patient in possession but while creating some opportunities they were unable to find the net again.

The second half saw a reinvigorated North Country defense. Clearly there was a focus for North Country on establishing a presence in the midfield. The KESD team, though, continued to pass well all across the field and was able to move the North Country defense and create space to operate. Recognizing a little more space up top, KESD played some balls forward that were received by Zane Faherty. After several attempts, he was able to find the space through the back line of the North Country defense and put his effort into the net to make the score 2-0. The latter part of the game saw North Country create some scoring opportunities. Lucas Sourbeer was strong in goal and able to turn the efforts back to keep the North Country team scoreless. KESD continued to play good team soccer and created some good opportunities of their own. One play saw a nice ball played back to Andrew Olone whose effort was just wide of the goal. With about 10 minutes remaining, KESD again found themselves on the attack. The keeper made a nice play to stymie the KESD effort. The ensuing clearance, however, found Zane Faherty in the middle of the field about 30 yards from goal. He recognized the keeper's high position and, with a beautiful first touch, he was able to set himself up for a shot that found the back of the net. KESD would continue to play excellent defense against a fast North Country attack and the match would end with KESD on top and KESD defeating North Country 3-0.

The win gives KESD North a record of 4 wins, no losses and 1 draw. KESD faces a tough Haverhill side at home on Tuesday.