Sprayberry continues 'standard' with win over Osborne
On Tuesday, the Osborne Cardinals and Sprayberry Yellow Jackets boys soccer teams met up on the pitch in a non-region matchup between two top 50 teams in Georgia and both coming into the match looking to extend their current win streaks, with the Cardinals having won their previous three and the Yellow Jackets with two straight wins. As the match got under way, Sprayberry looked to have the advantage in controlling the pitch early on in the first half, however as the period continued, the Cardinals would begin to see their share of pitch control.
And while both teams were aggressive offensively, the Yellow Jackets would be the first to strike courtesy of a free kick in which Soren Bednar would connect for the first goal of the match following an Osborne penalty, giving them the 1-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the half, which would eventually be the score at the half. As the second half got underway, both teams continued to be aggressive however it would be almost 30 minutes into the half before the first goal of the half would come as Sprayberry would score as Edwin Gonzalez Villalobos would connect for a goal giving the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead with 12:20 remaining.
Not allowing the match to get away, the Cardinals would pick up their first goal just under two minutes later as Porfirio Carrasco Diaz would strike for the Cardinals only goal of the match as Osborne trailed 2-1 with 10:35 to go in the game. Carrasco Diaz would later get a chance to equalize the match, but a save by inches by Sprayberry goal keeper Carson Jones would deny the Cardinals a chance to tie and the Yellow Jackets would pick up the 2-1 win. "Credit to the boys," Sprayberry head coach, Tajay Higgins said as he praised his player for working "hard all season" and despite believing that his players "lost a little bit of control in the second half," Higgins was pleased with the fight his team played with to seal the win.
"We've set a standard from the beginning of the season, we have our targets and the boys come out every game, every practice and we're pushing and pushing hard," Higgins added. And while Tuesday's match up was a non-region contest, Higgins noted that facing a tough Osborne team was what they needed to prepare for their next region contest when they take on John's Creek. "We wanted to use this game to kind of set the tone for Friday so we wanted to start off positive, we wanted to start off strong and use this game to kind of iron out some of the little things," Higgins said about getting set for John's Creek, who the Yellow Jackets trail by one game in the region standings.
"It's going to be a battle and I trust these boys, I believe in these boys and In know for sure they're going to get the job done," the first year Sprayberry head coach said.
