Game-winning goal stuns the Lancers in the final minutes

ROBBY FLETCHER Sports Editor

It wasn’t pretty – it rarely ever is in the first game of the season – but the Powhatan Indians got the job done at the end of the day when they battled Manchester on a brutally cold night in Powhatan. That largely comes as a result of a majestic go-ahead finish from sophomore James Davis, who put the stamp on his first game of the season with a goal off an extremely difficult angle with just four minutes left to go.

The 1-0 victory gives the Indians a winning start to the season as they look to build off a successful 2021-22 season, which began with a physical, defense-heavy bout with the Lancers.

There was only a handful of true on-goal chances for either side during the duration of the game, which was defined by an unrelenting wind and two teams put to the test early in their respective seasons.

“I’m thrilled we found an opportunity to win, but it went back and forth. Credit to Manchester, they’re a very gritty team that gives high pressure and an organized approach and they almost got it done,” Powhatan coach Willie Miles said.

Miles says the Indians struggled with focus against a disciplined Lancers team, and that they played to the style of their opponent, but overall there were positives that led to the team earning the win.

“I’d describe it as an honest up and down roller coaster right now,” he said. “At our high moments, we really do what we need to do in our system and possess the play and get our guys chances. Then we have those low moments of unfocused play, and we play to the style of our opponent.”

With speed on the wings, particularly on the left side, the Lancers proved to be a fittingly difficult test to start the season for the Indians, whose experience in close games certainly came in handy during the matchup.

In the first half, the Lancers ultimately came away with the better chances, including one linkup that saw a shot nail the top post, but the Indians had chances of their own that threatened to break the tie, including a free kick from junior Brayden Elzey with five minutes to play that got to Davis’ feet inside the box, though his shot was ultimately deflected.

It was an overall even half of soccer at the end of the day though, and it led to a tight second half finish that proved to be a nailbiter to the fans in attendance.

With 22 minutes left to play in the second half, the Lancers nearly broke the even score, with Hayden Xuan-Nghiem heading a shot from the left corner of the box that nailed the top post. It was a huge break for the Indians, who survived that scare and played sound defense for the rest of

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Wallace and teammate Maxwell Pestka played strong in both of their doubles matchups as well. Against Midlo’s top pairing of Fogle and No. 2 Griffin Bennett-Nguyen, the Indians duo responded from a 6-0 first set by adjusting to their opponent and giving a good fight to the end of the second set, though they fell in that one 6-4.

The doubles matchup against James River was even closer, going the distance with three sets after the Indians won the opening set 6-3. After Rapids duo Kim and David Cho took the next set 6-3, a third set would be needed to decide the winner. The Rapids were able to pull that one out with a 10-4 win.

Other notable performances from the week include a promising outing from Isaac Kelley in the James River matchup, where he battled Cho in the No. 2 singles game and nearly took the first set from the Rapids player, though Cho ultimately got the set with a tiebreaker point for a 7-5 finish. In the second set, Cho won 6-1.

Kelley and Noah Lawson did good work in the doubles matchup against Peter Le and Allen Shepherd soon after, getting to another tiebreaker opportunity in the first set, which again went James River’s way with a 7-5 finish. The two Powhatan players continued playing tough though, and took two more games in the second set, though the overall set went James River’s way with a 6-2 win.

The girls team is still looking for its first wins of the season, but head coach Anne Maliff was pleased with the effort her team showed. They battled through brutally cold conditions against Midlothian, and though it was a 9-0 team loss, the team won 26 games across their nine matches, an improvement from their eight wins against Midlothian last season.

Gianna LaRaffa can take credit for a significant amount of those wins, first showing her improvement at the No. 5 singles spot by

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