Barakat’s Goal Helps Eastside Boys Soccer Defeat Newberry

Nor Barakat scored his first varsity goal as the Eastside Rams boys soccer team defeated the Newberry Panthers 1-0 Thursday night at the Jonesville Soccer Complex.

The Rams (2-1-1) have already matched their winning total from last year when they finished 2-14-1.

“I’m looking for a few more wins this year,” Eastside coach Reggie Taylor said. “We want to be better than last year. I want to make a run at the district title.”

Game Action

The Rams are on pace to be better than last year. A lot of credit has to be given to Eastside’s defense, which held Newberry (1-1) to only two shots on goal, including zero shots during the first 15 minutes of the match. The Panthers struggled to have any offensive zone time as the Rams controlled play.

Had it not been for the play of Newberry goalkeeper Cayden Francis, the Rams would have won by multiple goals. Francis stopped 19 of 20 shots, proving to be a lethal guard in net. In fact, Francis had an MLS Academy Contract, but dropped it to play with his high school friends for his junior year.

Despite Francis being a solid goalkeeper, Taylor still wanted to see his team rack up more than one goal.

“We had the ball on our side (the entire game), but when the ball was on the other side, it was very nerve-wracking,” Taylor said. “We missed three or four easy chip shots. It got really nervous at the end. The other day we lost 2-0, but the last two goals were scored at the end of the game.”

Bakarat also wanted to score more than just one goal.

“We got lucky,” Bakarat said. “We had a lot of chances out there. It could have been 8-0. But I give my team credit for having those chances out there.”

Taylor gives a lot of credit on the defensive end to Eastside’s foreign exchange student, Nils Hutmacher.

“I’m upset that he is leaving, but we have a good backup that is coming in from JV,” Taylor said. “But I give credit to Nils, Loti (Ward) and those guys because they got the ball out of the zone.”

Up Next

Eastside plays at 7 p.m. Monday against P.K Yonge (2-1-1) at the Jonesville Soccer Complex, while Newberry plays at Keystone Heights (1-1-1).