VIRGINIA BEACH – Thursday night’s boys soccer match against Indian River was set up as a potential trap game for undefeated First Colonial.
The Patriots were coming off a mercy rule win Tuesday, and in the next 24 hours they would be suiting up for an anticipated heavyweight battle against Grassfield.
But Coach Kevin Denson’s club didn’t get caught looking ahead. Instead, the Patriots came out firing and built a commanding early lead en route to a 6-1 victory.
First Colonial forward Ian Roberts put on a show, netting a hat trick in the first half while adding two assists.
The senior captain was a composer of all sorts in the middle of the box. Whether picking apart defensive pressure and creating shots for teammates or dazzling through double and triple teams himself, Roberts worked his magic by making tough plays look routine.
“He’s a special guy,” Denson said after the game. “He does a lot for us. He’s our target. He can lay the ball, back off, then get it back right away and score some goals. He’s just so composed.”
The Patriots set their aggressive tone early when senior midfielder Zachary Trafton scored in front of the net off a neatly threaded touch pass from Roberts less than three minutes into the match.
Roberts scored his first goal in the 18th minute by tapping in a nice header pass from Patrick McCann in front of the net.
Indian River responded 10 minutes later with a shot from freshman Seth Albritton that turned out to be one of the Braves’ last good looks at the net.
In the 32nd minute, Patriots senior attack Jaylen Thompson played a nice give-and-go ball from Roberts and quickly fed his fellow senior with a perfectly timed pass that he squeezed through a double team. Roberts finished it off to take a 3-1 lead. Two minutes later, Roberts scored on a penalty kick after drawing a collision with Braves goalie Ashton Meister. In the 26th minute, Thompson raced down the right flank and rifled a cross feed at the net that bounced off a Braves defender and in for a goal, giving the Patriots a 5-1 lead heading into the half.
“It’s about being able to get up early and them not being able to recover from that,” Denson said. “You don’t see many teams coming back from three or four goals down, so it’s nice to get that done in the first half.”
In the 51st minute, First Colonial junior midfielder Will Nopper scored the loan goal of the second half by collecting a feed from Roberts and converting a nicely touched floater over Meister.
First Colonial’s midfield and back-four rarely let Indian River advance the ball into their zone. During the rare occasions they did, the Patriots’ defenders immediately cleared the ball, allowing their offense to keep possession and generate pressure. The Patriots out-shot the Braves 17-4.
“We did a much better job of getting the ball from our back-four once they had to clear it or get rid of it,” Denson said. “That was a big part of us being able to maintain a lot of possession.”
Tomorrow’s game against Grassfield will be First Colonial’s third game in five days and its first time playing the second night of a back-to-back this season. Despite the grind, Denson knows his boys will be up for the meeting.
“Major game,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll be excited for it.”
