Nation Ford has been fierce defending the home front

Already playing their ninth game of the season, the Nation Ford boys’ soccer team was able to beat the Boiling Springs Bulldogs to stay undefeated on their home field.

Nation Ford got an unexpected second half goal to beat the Bulldogs 2-1. The Falcons are now 7-2 on the season. Despite the two losses, the team is heading in the right direction said head coach Jon Jarrett.

“What we have is great chemistry,” Jarrett said. “We have a great group of kids.”

Both teams peppered control back and forth to each other for the majority of the first half. Nation Ford was able to control the ball more and get more shots on goal, but couldn’t crack the scoreboard.

The Falcons did think they had a goal about the 20 minute mark in the first half, but were called for offside nullifying the goal.

Boiling Springs got its looks as well during the first half, but the Falcons’ defense was able to hold on and prevent any clean looks.

With less than 10 minutes left in the first half, Nation Ford finally got on the board with a breakaway goal from Martin Cruz to put the Falcons up 1-0. That goal would carry the Falcons into the half with the lead.

The second half was much like the first as the two teams jostled back and forth to try and gain ground on the other. Nation Ford had a clear look at the goal about two minutes into the second half, but sent the ball wide left of the net.

Despite the early looks, it was Boiling Spring that struck first in the second half as they scored at the 45 minute mark to tie the game at 1-1. With the tying score, Nation Ford seemed to pick up the intensity and took several shots on goal about the 30 minutes left in the game, but still came up short.

With about six minutes left in the game, Nation Ford seemed to get lucky as Steven Halas scored after the ball was initially stopped by the Boiling Springs keeper. The keeper seemed to let the ball bounce out of his hands and then roll into the goal unexpectedly.

Up next this week for Nation Ford is a road games at Dorman and Clover. The Clover game will be the first Region IV game on the season for the Falcons. Jarrett said the region this year will be a difficult road to the playoffs.

“There isn’t an easy win in the region,” he said.

This story was originally published March 11, 2018 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Nation Ford has been fierce defending the home front."