Aaron Estep passes to a team mate in the Knights first home game at Burgbacher Field.

Tyler Consolidated’s boys 2009 varsity soccer team got their first taste of defeat this season as they fell to up-river opponents twice in as many games. Not easily dissuaded, the team quickly bounced back for two smooth wins to bump their season record to 7-2 this week.

“I don’t know what to say,” said head soccer coach at Consolidated, Scott Wall. “They’re an easy going bunch of guys who are able to put the last game aside and move on to the next one with little fanfare. Of course they’re concerned with our wins and losses, but they’re not ones to dwell on it, they don’t get all wrapped up in the what if’s or could haves of it all.”

Coming into the week fresh from a loss to Oak Glen, the Silver Knights played host to last years Regional Champions, the Weir Red Riders on Sept. 8. With premier player, Chad Ford (who scored 50 goals last season) again on the Weir roster, the Knights changed their strategy in this game to put a stop to any Ford kicks getting in the net. Though the strategy worked and Ford went goal-less in the match-up, Consolidated’s defense lacked a man on team play and the home team wound up with their second loss of the season, 5-2. The win allowed the Red Riders to remain unbeaten this season.

“They are a very good team, fast, physical,” the coach said. “We knew going in that this was going to be a tough one, and it was. We were a little flat at times because we had to change up our strategy, but all in all, I thought we played well against them. We just came out on the wrong side of the score.”

Justin Cooper and Spencer Kinnard each scored goals for the Silver Knights. Skylar Kinnard, goalie, had eleven saves in the contest.

On Sept. 10 Consolidated traveled to PA to play against Morgantown Trinity and brought home the 1-0 win in a basically uneventful game. Cooper scored the Knights only goal, even though the Silver took 17 shots, and goalie Kinnard had three saves.

“Even though we dominated possession, it was frustrating that we couldn’t seem to score,” Wall said. “We played very well, passed well, handled the ball well, we just couldn’t get the ball in the net. But this was an important win for us because Trinity is in our class A/AA section, and a win puts us seeded higher in the sectional when the time comes.”

On Sept. 12 the Silver Knights played at John Marshall, handing the Monarchs the 3-2 loss and upping their own season record to seven wins.

“This was a good win for us,” coach Wall said. “We haven’t beat this team since our senior guys were freshmen, so that’s two for them.”

The Knights scored their three goals early in the game, with Copper netting one and Spencer Kinnard, two. Dustin Snider had one assist on a Kinnard goal. John Marshall scored in the last minutes of the game, attesting to the fact that the game was not as close as the score implies. Skylar Kinnard had five saves as goalie for the Knights.

“I need to mention Aaron Estep,” Wall said. “He does an unbelievable job for us at center back. He plays one of those positions where you don’t get credit for saves or assists or goals, but without him, we’d be lost. He makes it easy for a coach.”

All in all, coach Wall is pleased with the way both the season and the team is shaping up thus far. They’re out-shooting other teams, struggling less with keeping possession of the mid- field and giving their best effort for the full 80 minutes of a game.

This week, the team was also touted as holding down first place in their division in the OVAC.

But the Knights still have quests ahead to battle, including three tough contests next week. On Sept. 15 Consolidated will travel to Williamstown to take on the Yellow Jackets, a program which a Silver Knight soccer team has never beaten. The Silver and Black will face off with a new team on the schedule on Sept. 17, Parkersburg South, a tried and true program used to winning.

The team will take on the Red Devils in Ravenswood on Sept. 19, another team yet to have been defeated by a Silver Knight crew.

“I guess you could say we have incentive this week,” the coach said.

The Tyler Consolidated Silver Knight boys varsity soccer team will play their next home match at Burgbacher Field in Middlebourne on Sept. 22 against Magnolia.