Sports
Panthers Soccer Facing 'Some Very Tough Games'
Despite returning just one starter from last year, Pikesville boys team is off to a 2-1-1 start.
After a hot start to the season, boys soccer team now heads into what Panthers coach Mark Lavallee describes as “some very tough games” the next few days.
The Panthers (2-1-1) host and Kenwood .
“Both games this week are going to be very tough," Lavallee said.
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Lavallee is hopeful his team is up for the challenge, though.
Before the 3-1 loss to on Monday, Pikesville had won two straight games -- 3-2 against on Sept. 15, and 4-3 against Woodlawn Sept. 13. That was after , 2-2, in its season-opener Sept. 2.
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“We’re hoping to be able to build on the success from those first few games,” Lavallee said, adding that the Panthers are "looking to be competitive" against both Perry Hall and Kenwood.
In order to be competitive, though, Lavallee will need continued production from his offense, which struggled in three scrimmages leading up to the season, but has flourished in the team’s first four regular season games.
Five Panthers have scored at least once, including Seth Kopel, who leads the team with four goals. All four of his goals came during the win against Woodlawn, a victory which Lavallee said was "very big" for his team.
During the game, Pikesville battled back from two second-half deficits, eventually scoring a game-tying goal late in regulation to force overtime before Kopel netted the game-winner in the extra period.
"That game really showed the players that good things will happen if they continue to work hard," Lavallee said.
Dylan Beker, Josh Borris, Matt Kirshner and Maury Sall have also scored goals for Pikesville.
Lavallee said his young Panthers team, with just three seniors on the roster, has "started to better understand the tactical way that we want to play the game." He has also seen his players doing a better job putting themselves in position to make plays.
He says there is still plenty of room for improvement, however.
"With this being such a young team, they’ll do some good things, but they’ll come right back and make some mistakes that inexperienced players make," Lavallee said.
To prevent those mistakes going forward, though, Lavallee said, "We just keep re-emphasizing to the team what the correct thing to do is in [particular situations]."