SILER CITY — The Jets’ confidence may have been through the roof, but their offense remained trapped beneath it.
Jordan-Matthews’ men’s soccer team came up short in a defensive battle, 1-0, against the Wheatmore Warriors on Wednesday, resulting in their first loss of the season. While the Jets’ defense was bordering on phenomenal all night long, their offense was underwhelming, as they were held scoreless for all 80 minutes.
“Offensively, we were just not on our ‘A’ game tonight,” said Jordan-Matthews Head Coach Paul Cuadros. “I think that we were looking past this team and our confidence was probably much higher than it should’ve been and we weren’t organized, we weren’t communicating with each other and we weren’t cooperating with each other.”
Coming in, the Jets were 2-0 on the year and had put together complete performances on the road against Trinity, 4-1, and Eastern Randolph, 4-2.
Having scored eight goals in two games, and playing a team who had allowed at least three goals in two-thirds of their games this season — including a 4-1 loss to Eastern Randolph two days prior — it seemed safe to assume the Jets would be able to score.
But assuming is often risky.
“We had success last week and we knew Wheatmore had lost on Monday,” said Cuadros. “I think the boys thought this was going to be a different kind of game than it was, but hey, this is soccer, and the best team doesn’t always win.”
Throughout the game, especially in the first half, Wheatmore spent very little time putting together any substantial offensive possessions. The Warriors didn’t even take their first shot until nearly 20 minutes into the contest.
While they had just six shots on goal all night, the one that truly counted came in the final seconds of the opening half.
The Jets’ Brian Hernandez attempted to dribble past Wheatmore’s Jagur Williams just outside of the penalty arc, which Williams immediately knocked away, got possession of and made a beautiful, arcing pass across midfield, over the heads of three Jets defenders, to Collin Burgess, who speedily dribbled down the field and slipped the ball past the keeper for a breakaway goal. The score: 1-0, Wheatmore.
Just 1.7 seconds remained in the half.
“It was killer. I’ve been coaching almost 20 years, so I’ve seen everything,” said Cuadros. “We still had a half in front of us, we still had 40 minutes in front of us to equalize and to win the game. That (goal) didn’t really affect me that much other than this is a hill that we now have to climb.”
On the other end, it looked as if the Jets were knocking on the door of a game-changing goal time and time again, but Wheatmore held strong and never let them in.
Issues with communication and explosiveness plagued Jordan-Matthews, as potential scoring opportunities withered away thanks to ill-timed passes, narrowly missed shots and players holding the ball a little too long.
The Jets ended the day with 12 shots on goal, doubling Wheatmore’s total, yet came away empty each time as Warriors goalkeeper Austin Poplin racked up 12 saves on the night.
“We did not have the intensity tonight and I think that’s all a part of the attitude of teenagers,” said Cuadros with a laugh. “We needed to talk to each other far more than we did and coordinate, through the communication, so that we’re all on the same page.”
A win over Wheatmore would have put Jordan-Matthews in sole possession of first place in the PAC 7 2A Conference. Now, the Jets are in second at 2-1, with Wheatmore (2-1-1) right on their heels with the conference title “up for grabs,” described Cuadros.
While the outcome wasn’t in Jordan-Matthews’ favor, Cuadros took solace in how the defense looked — including goalkeeper Ricardo Rocha, who had five saves in a game where he didn’t have to make too many — and plans to use this loss as a learning opportunity.
After all, it’s often said that one learns more in losing than in winning.
“Sometimes a loss is the best thing that can happen to a young team because then they learn,” Cuadros said. “They learn that they have to show up every time, they learn that they have to have that intensity every time, they learn they cannot underestimate any opponent and then they bring all of those elements together. Now we get to find out what they’re made of.”
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.