HAMPTON — The Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC) men’s soccer team earned its first win in program history with a 9-2 victory at Mid-Atlantic Christian on Sept. 2.
The new program dropped its first two matches of the year before its victory over the Mustangs.
“We needed a positive game that gave us a bit more time on the ball to rehearse and further develop our system of play,” said coach Kevin Darcy. “Our opening matches against two very good opponents in Southern Maryland and Anne Arrundel were difficult as we weren’t ready for the speed and physicality of the college game.
“This match helped build confidence in our players and motivate them,” he added.
Midfielder Jacob Logan led scoring with three goals, and forwards Christian Zeleya and Cannon Newell added two apiece. Defender Brian Lopez and midfielder Abdullah Ahwala each scored once.
“It was great to be able to look at players in different roles and I am still learning a lot about our player pool and what system fits us the best,” Darcy said. “I like our group and am confident we will be very competitive as the season goes on.”
Two days after the historic victory, the Gators lost 12-0 to Cape Fear Community College to drop to 1-3 on the season.
“It was the perfect storm of things going south,” Darcy explained, including it being the team’s third road game in six days. “We’ll get better.”
Giveaways in the defensive half of the field proved costly.
“That’s how it goes at the higher level. You get punished for mistakes … and rightly so,” he added.
The Gators opened their inaugural season on Aug. 27 with a 6-0 loss to the College of Southern Maryland at Wanner Stadium in Williamsburg.
“We stayed in it,” Darcy noted. “The second half we changed formations. We controlled a little bit more of the middle.”
“We built some things forward in the second half,” he added.
The Gators also dropped their second game 7-2 at Anne Arrundel Community College on Aug. 31, a match that saw Newell scoring the first goal in program history to give VPCC a 1-0 lead, but the Gators trailed 3-2 at the half. Darcy said turnovers in the second half were the difference.
The Gators already have come a long way since starting preseason practice Aug. 2 with five players, VPCC said. In the opening-day loss, Darcy dressed 17.
VPCC said Darcy has lined up three scrimmages before the next match on Sept. 23 at the College of Southern Maryland.
“We really need to just play where we have time to work on our system in practice,” Darcy said, adding of the upcoming schedule, “All these teams are going to be really good.”
For more information on Virginia Peninsula Community College, visit vpcc.edu.
