By Stephen Henderson It was a tough week for the men’s soccer team at Patrick County High School last week when they lost two matches. Tuesday they lost to Bassett 7-1. Thursday they lost to George Washington of Danville 6-1. The Cougars started off Tuesday’s match with a 1-0 lead. The goal was scored by Jordan Dalton on a breakaway. Patrick County struggled to maintain possession and control of the middle of the field against the Bengals. “Bassett scored three goals on some bloopers before the half was over They made some lucky shots that found the back of the net,” Coach Oscar Tejeda said. “In the second half, we just couldn’t get going,” he said. “We are facing some illnesses and injuries on the team, and we are trying to make adjustments and pull up some of our junior varsity players to fill in,” Tejeda added. In Thursday’s game against George Washington of Danville, Gonzalo Vargas scored for the Cougars. “The team is still struggling to adapt to the aggressiveness this sport can be,” Tejeda said. “I believe we are better than what our outcomes have been. I know this team can score goals; we have the players that can shoot well and finish, we just have to move as a unit and play more as a team. “We will continue to fight and work hard to build this program,” Tejeda said. “This is what a lot of coaches would call a rebuild year—I’m not. I believe in my guys and we will be competitive. We just have to get healthy and be more disciplined.” The Cougars hosted Christiansburg Monday, George Washington of Danville Tuesday, and will host Tunstall Thursday night with the match starting at 7:30 p.m. “We have a good stretch of home games this week, and we hope to improve game to game,” Tejeda said.
