Curtis Romine gets ready to send the ball down field to a team mate in a recent home game in Middlebourne.

Going 1-2 on the week, the Silver Knight varsity boys soccer team at Tyler Consolidated can still count the week successful. They took the win over Williamstown, a first for the soccer program at the school, but fell to Parkersburg South and Ravenswood.

At Williamstown the Knights were on their game as they took on the Yellow Jackets and brought home the win, 5-2. “This team was very good last year,” said Consolidated head coach Scott Wall. “They lost several seniors on the team, and their offense was not what we expected.”

Also, playing on a shorter field than usual, the Silver and Black were able to hold possession, which they have not been able to do against a Williamstown team before. Scoring for the Knights were Justin Cooper with two goals and one assist; Spencer Kinnard with two goals; Alex Jones, one goal; and Curtis Romine, one assist.

Skylar Kinnard, the keeper, had eleven saves in the game and one assist on goal.

“This was the kind of game you like be a part of,” the coach said. “Everybody got to play, and I like that as a coach. When you don’t have a junior varsity team, it’s hard for everybody to always get in, but I’m glad we were able to do it this time.”

“Alex Jones got to play up front, where usually we keep him on defense. He got the chance to score, and he did. Brandon Frye has also been playing extremely well. He’s a young guy, a freshman, but the level at which he plays is a real tribute to him and to how hard he’s worked at it.”

Playing at Parkersburg South for the first time, the Knight booters turned in a fine performance on the day, although they lost the game, 5-2.

“They play a more technical type of soccer, which is basically our goal,” Wall said. “So this was a good game for us, we could learn from a good team, and they were a very good team.”

“We played really well against them, and they only led us by one at the half.”

Goalie Skylar Kinnard made an excellent save about halfway through the first half, but in getting the save, he was unable to back out and the Patriots took advantage with the rebound shot on goal.

“I’d like to think that we surprised them,” the coach said. “I think they thought they were going to be able to steam roll us, they didn’t anticipate us playing up to them.”

In the second half the Knights put excitement into the game when Spencer Kinnard got the ball to Justin Cooper who passed it to Alex Jones who scored from the back left corner to tie the game at 1-1.

“It may not mean a lot to anybody else,” Wall said. “But I’m telling you, that was one big moment in our soccer program, it was right up there with making the OVAC tournament or a Sectional win for the first time. To be in the game, to tie a game like that with that kind of team, I am really proud of our kids.”

Unfortunately, the feeling of utopia soon ended as South determinedly scored four more goals in the second half to take the 5-2 win.”

“They won, but a couple of those goals were on our miscues,” said the coach.

Jones had the goal in the first half on Cooper’s assist; Spencer Kinnard scored a goal for the Knights in the second. Skylar Kinnard had 15 saves.

“Aaron Estep again was very important in our possession,” said coach Wall. “He continues to be instrumental in our games. Dustin Snider also played very well, he had some good plays in the game. Curtis Romine is the kind of player a coach can rely on, very consistent, and I have to say that this game was Trent Tuttle’s break out game. We usually shuttle him in and out on defense, but he played extremely well.”

The Silver Knights traveled to Ravenswood on Saturday, and left with the 6-2 loss. They were able to hold the Red Devils to two goals in the first half, but the team came out flat in the second and allowed four more balls to cross into the net.

Scoring for the Silver were Spencer Kinnard and B.J. Eastham.

“Communication,” said the coach, “was our downfall. We didn’t communicate very well with each other. These guys have played so long together that they have a tendency to try to read each others mind instead of talking out loud. We saw the consequence of that in this game. We had a lot of intercepted passes which put our defense on their heels.”

Jarod Lantz was the keeper in this game and had five saves.

“Ravenswood is a good team with good players, I think they have at least one or two guys that are All-State, and several four year players,” coach Wall said. “We just didn’t play well against them. Tuttle again had a great game, he controlled the ball more, he was probably our most consistent defender in this game.”

The loss puts the Tyler Consolidated season record at 8-4. The team played host to Magnolia on Tuesday and will host Williamstown at Burgbacher Field on Thursday at 5 p.m.

The OVAC soccer tournament is scheduled to begin on Sept. 29, should the Knights make the cut, (which they should), and will most likely play at Brooke High School.