GAME RECAP: West 6-2 Farragut
In the Onrise Care High School Game of the Week, the Rebels earn a big home win against the Admirals in their season opener.
In a matchup with eight Farragut victories in the past 10 meetings, the West High School Rebels earned a conclusive 6-2 victory at home against the Admirals in a AAA Region 2 game that served as both teams’ season openers.
Farragut entered the season with six seniors on its roster and a desire from Coach Bradley Culbreth to grow beyond his team’s 2022 campaign, a 5-7-2 season that, for the first time since 2016, ended before the regional tournament.
West, led by Nicholas Kim in his first year after being promoted from assistant coach, looked to continue its momentum from last year’s 9-3 season, which saw the team make its first state championship tournament appearance since 2008. The Rebels featured Danish transfer student Tobias Hageltorn, making his high school debut this year after playing with FC Alliance in the fall.
The match itself was an intensely physical affair, characterized by quick play and hard-fought contests for possession until the final whistle. Play started with the area under a wind advisory. Gusts as high as 11 miles per hour threatened to impact the game, but they died down early in the first half.
The Rebels wasted no time applying pressure to the Admiral defensive line. By the second minute, they were battling around the edge of the penalty box. Hageltorn, a junior playing as a forward, earned a free kick and corner that both came up short.
As Farragut tried to regroup and make its way down the pitch, West senior midfielder Alden Wilson stole the ball and sent it down the right side to Hageltorn. He hammered a shot from the right corner to the keeper’s chest. Farragut goalkeeper Gavin Barnes lost control of the ball as it bounced off his chest and over his shoulder, giving the Rebels their first goal in the fourth minute.
With the setting sun directly in the eyes of the Farragut attack until midway through the first half, the Admirals made few long drives down the pitch. The Rebels’ midfield also fought heavily for possession, especially Wilson and junior Daniel Drata. Both teams played aggressively, using every muscle to battle for the ball.
Farragut earned its first solid shot at the 18-minute mark, as junior forward Brooks Burnette dribbled downfield and took a slow rolling kick wide to the left. On the restart, senior forward Eric Sonnenschein, a Covenant College commitment, drilled the ball from out front to even the score at 1-1.
Over the next ten minutes, both teams showed wear from the early intensity. A spark for the Rebels came in the 34th minute, capping off a string of higher-pressure drives. Freshman Grayson Huffaker collected the ball in the middle of West’s end, then mailed a pass nearly half the length of the pitch to connect with Hageltorn. He drove past two defenders up the right side to draw out the keeper, then passed to senior defender Jackson Novinger for a clean goal in the middle of the net.
In the second half, West returned energized. For nearly 15 minutes, the hosts possessed on both ends of the pitch and kept the Admirals from any major scoring opportunities.
An illegal tackle by Farragut’s senior defender Jack Bukovitz in the 54th minute gave Wilson a penalty kick that he took advantage of to set the score at 3-1 for West.
West followed with another well-fought trip down the pitch. Starting on the defensive line, the Rebels passed their way around the Admirals until Drata found possession in midfield. Jumping a tackle, he passed to Novinger, who drove up to the front right corner of the box. He crossed over to Hageltorn who headed the ball over the keeper for his second goal of the night in the 60th minute.
Fresh blood came out into the game in 65th minute for Farragut, breathing life into its attack. The Admirals scored two minutes later from a penalty kick taken by Sonnenschein. The Admirals continued to fight closely for possession and keep the ball to West’s side more frequently.
But even those substitutions couldn’t stop the Rebel attack, as West closed the match with two more goals. Novinger drove another one in for himself in the 69th minute, then freshman forward Oliver Bankston closed the match in the 78th minute with a goal of his own for a 6-2 scoreline.
West hosts Fulton on March 28, while Farragut hosts Oak Ridge on March 27, and travels to Alcoa on March 30. Both teams will then appear in the Bearden Invitational over the weekend of Thursday, March 30, to Sunday, April 2.
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West Head Coach Nicholas Kim
On the execution of his game plan:
“It’s always a physical game. Our team is physical; that’s the brand of soccer that we play. We don’t like to play dirty, but you’re going to feel us every time we play. It’s statement that we just made here today. We didn’t do anything different. We’ve got great players. We play our brand of soccer, and we deal with what happens.”
West Junior Forward Tobias Hageltorn
On facing a physical opponent:
“I already knew from the start it was going to be a hard match. I play with some of those guys in club, so I knew they had some really good players. They have some quality, especially from behind, so I knew I had to be ready from the start. We created a lot of chances in our last games. We really showed it here by scoring six goals that we’ve got the attack. There were some big guys, and I knew they’d be at my back, so I knew that when I got the ball, I would just hold it and wait for other people to make a run.”
Farragut Head Coach Bradley Culbreth
On his team’s performance:
“When it got to 3-1, I said, ‘I’m not going to tighten up. I’ve still got to get two goals in the net. If I lose 6-2 or 3-1 it doesn’t matter, I still lose.’ They were better than I thought. I was very clear, if you let this kid [Tobias Hageltorn] turn, we’re going to be in trouble, and they let him turn. And that’s when the get steam behind them. It was good for us, except for the injuries. It wasn’t a dirty game. It was a physical game, but it wasn’t chippy, which I’m okay with.”