Highlands 1 Beechwood 0

[kyag]

Per the scoreboard...we will wait for @FrankNicodemus recap of the game.  Looking forward to it as he always does a great job.

[FrankNicodemus]

Highlands hangs on to win a close one

Going into this regular season opener for the Birds I was cautiously optimistic.  I felt like the Birds should continue the dominance against Beechwood but it was going to be a tight one.

Sure enough it didn't disappoint.  Beechwood has a really nice squad this year that will get some wins against some quality opponents but Saturday was not one of them.

Here are a few highlights:

15 minutes into the game Sam Lang ran to the top of the box to grab a high ball jumping in the air to retrieve it.  In doing so his legs got swiped by an oncoming attacker making Sam land awkwardly on the ground injured.  The ref tried to give him a long time to get on his feet and work the pain out but it was too much to bear.  Therefore, he had to leave the game briefly.  

Both Beechwood and Highlands had a few nice opportunities.  Harrison Gamble had a couple nice breakaways that he got behind the last defender to go at the keeper 1v1 and just missing by inches on the side.

Beechwood just before Sam Lang re-entered the game was able to get past Highlands last defender to go 1v1 with the Birds backup keeper and the shot goes right to the keeper for the save.

Fast forward to the 30th minute Birds gets awarded with a free kick roughly 35 yards out on the stands side hash mark.  Luis McVicker floats a nice kick towards the far post area where Harrison Gamble is going full out super man and connects his head to the ball, ball to the back of the net...  Birds 1 Beechwood 0.  

The game seemed to go back and forth with possession the rest of the game.  With nothing worth noting until roughly 3 minutes left the biggest controversy if you are a die hard Beechwood fan hoping for something to go your way.  Highlands was penalized with a handball offense close to the box.  Beechwood was adamant that it was in the box to give them a PK try, referee thought otherwise and placed the ball right outside the box.  Highlands was able to deny the last minute threat and pick up the nice Opening Day victory!

Personnel side note:  Highlands who as I have stated before is pretty young but they got a punch in the gut this week when Senior Def Mid Ethan Schweitzer injured his knee at practice on Thursday.  Word is he will probably be sidelined for a few weeks....hopefully he has a speedy recovery.