Axel Garcia (13) and Carlos Espinosa (10) battle for the ball during the first half.
Kristian Russell | Elkin Tribune
On a crisp Monday evening, the Elkin Buckin Elks men’s soccer team hosted the Forbush Falcons in a non conference game. The Elks were coming into the game with an unbeaten 3-0 home record, while Forbush was 1-3 on the season.
In the first half of play, the Falcons struck first. Two minutes into the game, Forbush combined a string of passes to slip past the Elkin defense. Just as Forbush was going to cross into the box, Ryan Zachary was fouled and a free kick was given. Clegg Johnson set up his shot from the top of the box, and as soon as the whistle was blown he took a hard shot towards the left corner of the goal. The ball slid past Thomas McComb and into the net for a 1-0 Forbush lead.
With Forbush sitting in the lead, and a lot of soccer left to play, Elkin tried to make their way past Forbush’s defense. The Elks were unsuccessful in this venture, as the back line of Mason St. John, Joe Salazar, and Ben Trivette were impenetrable. The Elks were finally able to come up with a shot on goal as the clock hit the ten-minute mark. Carlos Espinosa saw his opportunity and he took it, with the shot sailing towards the goal. As soon as the ball looked to be going into the net, it curved at the last moment and hit the right post. In the first 12 minutes of play, the Elks had only one shot on goal while Forbush had five shots.
As the first half continued on, Forbush was able to put another shot into the net. Coming out of the back, Zachary dribbled the ball down the field and beat his defender. As he was crossing into the box he played a switch from his left foot to his right foot which threw another Elkin defender off balance. The switch gave Zachary a chance to lay the ball off to a wide open Giovanni Jimenez. With one thought on his mind, Jimenez took his shot on the first touch and the ball slid into the net. The goal gave Forbush a 2-0 lead over Elkin with 26 minutes left in the half.
Over the next ten minutes, Elkin tried to stop Forbush’s momentum while simultaneously picking up their own tempo. In the 23rd minute, the Elks put two shots on goal but both sailed wide right. When the halftime whistle blew, Forbush held a 2-0 lead over Elkin.
In the final half of play, Forbush knocked in its third goal of the night while the Elks were able to put one goal on the board. As the final whistle blew, Forbush ended Elkin’s unbeaten home streak with a 3-1 win.