The William Byrd soccer team had a big night last Friday as the Terriers celebrated “Senior Night” with a 9-2 win over Staunton River at Patterson Stadium.
Byrd got off to a good start when senior Beem Sareekun kicked off the night with a goal. Not long after that seniors Luke Johnston and Tristan Brady would each add a score for a 3-0 lead. Johnston would tally another later on in the first half, as well as Nathan Patrick in his first varsity game, to make the score 5-1 Terriers at the break.
The Terriers have had a habit of letting leads slip away during this season, so coach Matthew Guilliams made a point to remind the boys the game was not over at halftime.
“We talked about composing ourselves, but staying hungry and continuing to attack and seek more goals and not feel like we have to play so defensive for the second half,” said Guilliams. “Fortunately, we did just that.”
Johnston fired off another three goals in the second half to finish with a total of five for the night. Patrick grabbed his second goal late in the second half to make the final, 9-2. Junior Gavin Simpson had four assists on the night and seniors Andrew Brooks, Tristan Brady and Jared Brown had one each. Senior Michael Hodges had four saves in the goal.
“We really needed those goals, not just for the guys who scored them, but for the team as a whole,” said Guilliams. “We’ve lost some tough games so far this season to teams who haven’t put up nearly as many on River as we have. That just shows to me,we can compete and get results against these other teams as well, but we can’t switch off or get down on ourselves at any point during the game no matter what happens.”
Byrd seniors honored last Friday include Zach Aylor, Jesse White, Luis Jerez, Jared Brown, Ryan Buxton, Tristan Brady, Andrew Brooks, Luke Johnston, Beem Sareekun, Dalton Shepherd, Michael Hodges, Wahtshee Htoo, Chance Harrison, and Zach McDaniel.
Byrd is 2-7 overall and 1-2 in Blue Ridge District play. The Terriers will host Northside this Friday. A match rained out at Lord Botetourt on Tuesday will be made up on May 9.
