It’s technically still summer, but on Saturday at Sugar Hollow Park winter descended on the Virginia Intermont men’s soccer team.
Luke Winter, that is.
Tennessee Wesleyan’s junior midfielder buried Virginia Intermont with a scoring flurry as the Bulldogs (4-2-0, 1-0-0) picked up a 4-0 win over the Cobras (0-5-1, 0-1-0) in an Appalachian Athletic Conference matchup.
Winter connected midway through the first half and then finished off a hat trick with a pair of second-half tallies as he pulled into a tie for the AAC lead with his eighth, ninth and 10th goals of the season.
“He’s been absolutely first-class so far this year,” said Tennessee Wesleyan coach Stephen Lyons.
Tennessee Wesleyan picked up a tight 1-0 victory over VI in 2010, but the Bulldogs were in control throughout on Saturday as they outshot the Cobras 31-11, including a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal.
Lyons said he was happy to see his team, which also got a goal from sophomore Martyn Freestone, keep its edge for the full 90 minutes.
“I think the biggest thing today is we stayed switched on,” Lyons said. “It’s very easy in some games when you’ve got the advantage to switch off. [VI] can always be a threat going forward.”
Former Virginia High standout Tylor O’Dell made seven saves in goal for the Cobras, but whiffed on a clearance attempt 10 minutes into the second half, giving Winter an empty net to put the Bulldogs up 3-0 after the Cobras had threatened to get back into the game with a strong offensive push to start the final 45 minutes.
David Power sent a screaming free kick just over the bar for the Cobras and Thiago Lopes was also just high on a shot in the early going of the second half, but neither could help VI cut into its 2-0 deficit at intermission.
“We can definitely create chances,” said VI coach Robert Ssejjemba. “It’s just getting on the end of those balls.”
Austin Dunleavy, who led the Cobras as a freshman in 2010 with nine goals, missed his third straight match Saturday after breaking his nose earlier this month against North Greenville.
His injury is just one of many the Cobras have had to deal with so far in 2011, leading to a rotating lineup that has yet to mesh.
“Right now I think we’re feeling the effects of preseason coming into our first game we had a ton of injuries,” Ssejjemba said. “Our first game we had six guys out. Now some of those guys have come back from injury, but getting them back and trying to get everyone to play together – at this point it’s sort of a snowball.”
VI’s first four matches of the season resulted in three one-goal losses (including one in overtime) and a tie, but the Cobras have now lost their past two outings by a combined score of 10-0.
“When you’re not scoring, it’s so hard to get back into games,” Ssejjemba said. “If we score, on the other end the confidence builds up.”
As the Cobras heal and gain comfort with each other, Ssejjemba said he expects his team’s results to improve.
“We have not put our best team yet out there on the field,” he said.
nhubbard@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Hubbard_BHCSprt | (276) 645-2543
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