Spartan Soccer Settling In, Big Weekend and Week Ahead

FAIRLEA- Since a season-opening loss to Washington, one of the better teams in the state, the Greenbrier East boys’ soccer team has found their stride and worked out the early game jitters.

Their last two contests, a 2-1 win over Martinsburg and a 3-0 shutout of Pocahontas County put the Spartans at 4-1-1 in the early part of the season.

East also avoided a loss and ended in a tie with Spring Mills just a few days ago and one coach credited the play of keeper Dubya Vickers for that outcome. Vickers made some incredible saves (4 total) in that contest and recorded 10 more saves against Martinsburg. He helped slow the game down as needed which led to some better opportunities for East. Noah Edwards scored a goal against the Bulldogs with an assist from Andrew Holt, and Dylan DePriest-Thompson scored the other in the victory.

Head coach Lucas Lemine is all in on his team right now and said that opening game loss to Washington was on him, but it was also maybe exactly what the team needed.

“I think we needed not only a high-level opponent opening game but honestly the result. These kids have been motivated and improving since. I took full responsibility for the loss. Looking at the numbers during that game, we controlled the ball, but we struggled in transition, and we also struggled to create real scoring opportunities,” Lemine said.

And ever since making some key adjustments, the differences have been noticeable.

“We switched it up and immediately have been seeing better scoring opportunities and a decrease in attacking transitions from the opponent. The only downturn we have seen from the change is possession. Historically we are a high percentage possession team. This year so far, it’s pretty even. It’s the real scoring opportunities that we are creating that’s changing the outcomes of the games, the coach stated.

This weekend, the Spartans start a daunting part of their schedule where they will face Huntington on Saturday (9/14), George Washington on Tuesday (9/17) and Woodrow Wilson on Thursday (9/19). However, with every difficult challenge comes a possible chance to shine under the lights.

“The kids are becoming comfortable but not complacent. They want more. We are ready for the challenge and again, similar to the opening game, we need it. With every game we are finding positives and negatives, always things we can improve. We find out who we really are when times get tough. This team has the ability to do what they want to do, and they control it,” Lemine explained.

One thing Lemine knows and feels every day is the love and pure fun he has being on the sidelines with his team.

“This has been the most fun I’ve had coaching a team. they give 100 percent consistently and they don’t complain, so yes, the sky is the limit for this group,” he exclaimed with a smile.

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