Kennedy survives wind and rain, beats Northwood
LA MIRADA -At 6-foot-3, Evyn Hewett is hard to miss on a soccer field, but, for one split second on Monday at La Mirada High, Northwoods' defenders lost track of Kennedy's big senior midfielder.
"And we like it when that happens," Kennedy coach Tom Link said.
If it turns out like this every time, it's easy to see why.
Standing in a particularly empty spot on the soggy field at La Mirada High, Hewett let the ball fly with his left foot during a driving rain storm, delivering the shot that led the Fighting Irish to a 3-2 victory in the consolation round of the Varsity Premier division of the North Orange County Championship.
"He (Hewett) has great touch, he can run forever, and he is left-footed which always seems to cause people problems. I have been here for 15 years now, and I think he is as good as any player I have ever had," Link said. "I really love my team right now. I think we are coming in at the right time. We still still making some mistakes though that we will have to clean up."
Take what happened in the first half for instance. Kennedy's keeper Mackay Kytt tried to call off his sweeper who was running toward him. The two players came together and the ball rolled in for a Northwood score.
After that, though, Kytt made it rather tough on the Timberwolves, stopping three potential goals in a 10 minute span in the second half. Northwood tried to build most of their plays on the right side of the field, using Blake Carter to cross the ball.
And one time he found Jake Murray by the six-yard box, setting up to score the goal that tied the game, 2-2, late in the second half. About a minute later, though, the Timberwolves were trailing once again. That's when Hewett, who Link said migt sign with San Diego State, scored his fifth goal of the season, which set the final margin.
Nathan Darosa and Martin Gonzales also scored for the Fighting Irish during Monday's game which was played alomst entirely during a driving rain storm. Gonzales goal came five minutes into the second half, and it put Kennedy up 2-1.
Northwood coach Josh Brooks said Gonzales caught the Timberwolves' defenders at a rather unorganized moment, and he was able to easily head the ball into the goal.
"We are a team that really believes in ourselves right now," Link said. "And I think we are going to be able to contend with Valencia and Tustin (in the Empire League)."
In another consolation game:
Servite 3, Schurr 0: Rafi Balikcioglu scored three goals and Jimmy Reyes-Ramos added two assists to lead the Friars, who have given up just two goals in their past eight games.
Chris Martinez finished with one save in the shutout, the sixth one that the Friars (7-2-1) have recorded this season.
