From the first whistle all the way to the end of the first half, Blue Ridge kept going to the well. With Malick Kone, Stephane Kauagoue and Ji Won Oh flying down the field, the Barons defense and midfield booted one long overhead pass after another for their athletic forwards to chase. It resulted in more than a handful of fast breaks, but that’s not how the Barons got the job done. In a game where the Barons swung for the fence whenever they could, a header from Kauogoue on a perfectly placed corner kick and a crisp pass from Kone to an open and waiting Andrew Wilson was the difference as Blue Ridge topped Covenant 2-0 with its pair of first half goals.
“We’ve been practicing the (fast break) and sending the ball to the corners and just basically counter attacking,” said Blue Ridge coach Matt Bennett. “We’ve got very fast forwards so when we lose the ball at midfield, when we get it back we want to counter as quickly as we can. We might not posses the ball as well as a lot of teams, but we get forward very quickly and we’ve been dangerous when we’ve been doing that.”
Both Kone and Kauagoue’s physical presence was too much for the Eagles defense early on as they constantly bruised through to split the defense and create their opportunities. Oh, on the other hand, used his speed and footskills to work the ball down the sidelines before making a cross, and both styles of play were effective through out the contest.
“With their direct style of play, (Kone) being very physical, sometimes that’s tough to defend,” said Covenant coach Bryan Verbrugge.
In the game’s first five minutes Kauagoue was able to get out in front of a corner kick and head it home to make it 1-0.
“We’ve been really effective in the air so far this year,” Benett said. “It’s great when on any corner kick or throw in you feel like you have a good chance to score that way. It’s pretty nice.”
Blue Ridge kept up the pressure and continued to break free for most of the half, but Covenant goalkeeper Joshua Sipe was able to neutralize the Barons’ attack.
In the last few minutes of play in first half, Covenant’s John Berrey nearly put in a free kick that was set up by a play by Jack Murray. However, the momentum of the play quickly turned in Blue Ridge’s favor as Kone got free on a breakaway and drew in the defense before he found a streaking Wilson, who had just come off the bench for Kauagoue, and finished off the play with a goal.
“He was running down the field and I thought he was going to shoot it, but then they laid back and passed it,” Wilson said. “So I had to get out on it and I gave it a shot and it went in.”
In the second half, the Eagles were able to limit the Barons’ offense to far fewer scoring chances, but Covenant was unable to put together any major opportunities of its own as Blue Ridge’s was all too happy to sit back on defense and squat on its 2-0 lead.
This was the first time this season that Eagles have been shut out. The Covenant offense came into the match averaging more than two goals a contest, and will look to get back to creating more chances.
“We had a lot of chances on the left side and sending it in, but we need to get better on our timing there,” Verbrugge said. “We also need solid play through the midfield and through possession. We build a lot of solid attacks through the defensive and middle thirds of the field but gave it away on the offensive third. So we need to be smarter and faster. That’s what we’re going to work on.”
Covenant (5-5, 3-4 VIC) travels to Roanoke Catholic on Friday at 5 p.m.
Blue Ridge (3-4, 3-4) hosts St. Anne’s-Belfield on Thursday at 5 p.m.
