Hydrated Demons thump Panthers, 5-1

The Fike High varsity boys soccer team, aided by a hydration break midway each half, climbed to .500 with a 5-1 nonconference victory against North Johnston on the Fike pitch on a sultry Tuesday night.

The Golden Demons of the 3-A Quad County Conference boosted their record to 2-2-1, while North Johnston of the 2-A Neuse 6 Conference departed 0-5-1. The teams continue the nonconference portion of their respective schedules Thursday, when Fike welcomes former conference foe Franklinton and the Panthers host James Kenan.

Fike head coach Chris Mizelle endorsed the brief stoppage for hydration purposes in each half, but commented: “We probably didn’t need it, but if we get a chance to fix something, we are going to fix it.”

Panthers head coach Ben Fitzgerald, hobbled by a broken leg, noted: “When we took that water break, it made us slow down.”

The Demons notched four goals after water breaks, while North Johnston, opposing Fike for the first time in at least six years, netted its goal with slightly over six minutes elapsed in the second half.

Fike posted a 3-0 halftime margin.

Enrique Arizpe opened Fike’s scoring with just over nine minutes elapsed. He took a through ball from Christopher Hill, forced his way between two defenders and, on the run, buried the shot.

With 19:13 showing, Micah Foula drilled an accurate shot from some 25 yards out. With slightly over 11 minutes left, the Fike duo of Irving Aguilar and Collins Pearson double-teamed the Panthers defender. Aguilar, a junior, stole the ball and cranked a diagonal shot past the keeper. Offsides negated a Fike goal. Arizpe, Foula and Kenaize Williams got off shots that tested the Panthers defense.

“We did good, especially coming off a three-game week,” Aguilar expressed. “But at the end, we had a lot of tired legs.”

Observed Mizelle: “(North Johnston) was definitely an experienced team and had qualities. They were very direct (on the attack). Center backs (Victor Vsquez and Gabriel Castillo) played well in preventing attacks. They have to do that against more direct teams. We are doing a lot of work to prevent teams from building an attack.”

After the Panthers trimmed the deficit to 3-1, Fike scored the crippling goal with 15:19 remaining on Hill’s free kick. Miguel Orellana concluded the Fike assault with a goal with just 1:04 left. Mateo Pappas and Pete Bolt had excellent chances in fielding corner kicks.

Sophomore Nicholas Parrish and junior Andrew Gilaldo Reyes managed the Panthers’ best first-half threats.Sophomore goalkeeper Henry Romero responded with an excellent save of a point-blank Fike shot.

The Panthers pretty much controlled the second half —  until play was stopped for the hydration break. Yet carelessness resulted in the North Johnston goal and denied Fike goalkeepers James Nestor and Yael Alrcon and the backline of Castillo, Bolt, Vasquez and Kevin Escobedo a shutout.

A Fike defender attempted to clear the ball in front of the Fike goal, but Panthers’ senior Christopher Reyes stepped in quickly, diverted the ball’s path and tapped it into the goal.

“We set up that play,” Mizelle explained, “but he waited too long. It has to be quick. Their player made the play and, sometimes when you do that, you get a payoff.”

Added Aguilar: “He took too long to clear it. Luckily, the team kept its head up. We had tired legs, a couple of mistakes and a couple of subs (in the second half). We weren’t the finished product.”

“This  year so  far, we’ve had highs and lows,” the Panthers’ Fitzgerald disclosed. “We come out strong and either get tired or stop communicating. We have also scheduled tough teams that are ranked in the top 20 in the state. We played well; we have a couple more pieces to put together.”

Said junior Abram Paredes Nunez: “We played well. We’ve got a couple of things we need to work on, but the potential is there.”

Fike started Nester in goal. He was injured in the final minute of the first half. Alarcon protected the goal the first 20 minutes of the second half and, with the score 3-1, Nester returned and stopped a well-placed shot by Panther senior  Brian Jones in the final two minutes. Mizelle commended Hill for a sensational game.

“Aguilar’s effort and movement paid off in a couple different ways,” Mizelle continued. “We are going to need that every night. The defense is getting better every game — and  that’s a good trend.”

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