NEB boys soccer went 1-1 late last week as they fell to Galeton 4-1 but bounced back with a 3-1 win over Blue Ridge.

GALETON

"We made the long trip out to Galeton and things didn't go to plan," NEB coach Scott Merritt said about the match.

"Plagued by flat energy and not enough enthusiasm, we failed to win 50-50 balls, miscued with poor passes and lost balls or even just poor control with the ball ending up out of bounds (giving them another possession)," explained Merritt.

The got their goal when Brody Allen got the ball after a defensive stand, forced the Galeton defense to shift, then found Dan Barrett who put it in the back of the net in the first half.

"But we came out in the second half and again lost possession repeatedly," said Merritt. "We finally got things going and put an extreme amount of pressure on them in the last 18-20 minutes, but their backline did enough to shield and their goalie played outstanding down the stretch. An injury to Brody Allen on a tackle and kick from behind that ended with the Galeton player receiving a red card with supplemental for violence took the final wind out of our sales."

NEB out shot Galeton 8-5 with Chris Rought earning two saves in the loss.

"We had two miscues in which balls were headed in the wrong direction without follow up defending, ushering Galeton attackers to our goal, and the Galeton boys did a outstanding job of pretty much winning every 50-50 ball on the night," said Merritt. "They wanted it more and played up tempo from the first whistle. Kudos to them, they kept us from scoring and found the back of the net four times."

BLUE RIDGE

The Panthers ended the week on a positive note with a non-league win against the Raiders.

"They were tall, quick and physical, they play a style of dropping back many and then countering," said Merritt. "Some strong midfield ball movement led to several passes forward and around from Anthony (Pousen) to Brody (Allen), who then swung it around to Wes Alderfer, who after a drive, chipped it over when Malachi Taylor entered the box and found the back of the net with whatever means he could."

Blue Ridge countered on a well time attack that allowed a 1-on-1 with NEB goalie Chris Rought, and he was able to get it in the back of the net for a 1-1 score.

"The next several minutes were forward and back left then right with ball movement until it was chipped over the defender to Wes Alderfer, who drove towards the final third made a cut inside and struck the ball with enough force it ricocheted of a Blue Ridge defenders body and into the net," said Merritt. "After some halftime adjustments we played with power to the ball, decisive defense, and fast moving ball control staying out of the wall of danger, and attacking around, over, and making gaps for angles, but the Raiders goalie had some great play and amazing saves keeping us from scoring on so many occasions. But we were now in control of the pace and momentum of the game. With under nine minutes left Lyric Hillard found Brody Allen, who took a beautiful arched curving shot that found the upper far corner of the goal to put the nail in the coffin."  

NEB led in shots 25-8 and had a 4-3 edge in corner kicks. Rought made seven saves in net.

"In the first half we were still plagued by miscued passes or errant dribbles that gave the ball away a little too often but in the second half we returned to form and our ball control was so much better," said Merritt. "Been way to many matches since we have had victory vs Blue Ridge with a severe amount of losses in tournaments to penalty kick shoot outs or having them want it more than us in a few games, including last years 4-1 spanking, in which we played out of sorts and Blue Ridge played very well."