Saints get first win of season

Published 9:53 pm Tuesday, September 6, 2016

 

Senior Gustav Berner makes a corner kick to set his teammate up in the second half of the game against Stonebridge. NSA won 1-0 on the road, which was their first win of the season.

Senior Gustav Berner makes a corner kick to set his teammate up in the second half of the game against Stonebridge. NSA won 1-0 on the road, which was their first win of the season.

Nansemond-Suffolk Academy on Tuesday defeated StoneBridge 1-0 for first win of the season.

The Saints traveled to Stonebridge to pull off their first victory of the season. After starting the season off 0-4-1, the Saints can build momentum off of their first win and continue to get better.

Email newsletter signup

Before the season, coach Patrick Whelan said the challenge was seeing what every player brought to the team to help them better, and it looks like the Saints are finally starting to figure it out.

To pick up a win on the road is a tough task, and the Saints found a way to do it. Not only did the Saints win but also they shut out their opponent.

The team’s confidence gets a big boost now that they have figured out how to win. On Tuesday, each player on the Saints soccer team was playing with confidence. Collectively, the team figured out what they needed to do to get a win. Junior Max Harvey did a good job for the Saints defending the goal.

“We are taking steps in the right direction,” Whelan said. “It always feels good to get a win. This is something we can build off of.”

Freshman Bennett Miller scored the goal for the Saints. Sophomore Parker Bono assisted Miller on his goal. The Saints let their consistent defensive effort on Tuesday lead them to get their first win.

“It was a good one for us,” Whelan said. “Now it is all about building on the positives and correcting the negatives.”

NSA’s crowd also played a hand in the Saints’ energy. Family and friends traveled to Stonebridge to cheer the team on, and the players used the energy from the crowd to increase their efforts.

For the next game, NSA will return home at 4:30 p.m. Friday to face Steward School. A key to the Steward School game for the Saints will be taking care of their home field. NSA has seven home games. Winning all of their home games can help at the end of the season for playoff seeding.

NSA: 1     StoneBridge: 0

Goal: Bennett Miller, freshmen

Assist: Parker Bono, sophomore

Shut-out: Max Harvey, junior