NEWBERRY – In a game of several ups and downs, the Newberry men's soccer team fell to Coker, 4-2, on Wednesday afternoon at the Smith Road Complex.
The first half of the match went fairly smoothly for both sides as the Wolves and Cobras mustered five shots each. The second half was the exact opposite, however, with both teams coming out firing on all cylinders.
Coker struck first in the 49th minute after an initial shot from Coker's Riccardo Ricci ricocheted off of Newberry's goalkeeper
Brad Dixon to the feet of another Coker player in Kyle Marcus. Marcus put the Cobras on the board after making his shot despite Dixon retreating to recover to make the save.
The Wolves answered back nearly two minutes later when
Fabrizio Bucco passed to a wide open
Ibrahim Nadir in the middle of the field in Coker territory. Nadir took one touch and shot it through the back of the net in the 51st minute.
Just 15 seconds later, Coker responded as Jacob Simonis scored to give the Cobras the advantage.
The flurry of goals didn't stop as Newberry's
Daniel Reyes received a pass down the right side of the field on the ensuing kickoff. Reyes dribbled through several Coker players and ended up in the box and shot. The ball bounced off a Coker player and into the back of the net to give Newberry even with Coker once again.
The four goals between both teams happened in a span of one minute and 48 seconds.
Despite the best efforts Coker managed two additional goals in the 55th and 56th minutes to put the game out of reach despite the Wolves best efforts.
"We had a bad spell at the beginning of the second half that cost us the game," head coach
Bryce Cooper said. "With three games left we'll see what we are truly made of."
The Wolves look ahead to matchups against Queens, Carson-Newman and Lincoln-Memorial with the regular season coming to a close.
Next up, Newberry aims to take on Queens with a 4:30 p.m. matchup against the Royals in Charlotte, N.C. The Royals will be livestreaming the game, with live stats available as well. Links to both will be available on the men's soccer schedule page on NewberryWolves.com.
