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Vikings break out of deadlock to beat Rockets

By RICKEY CLARDY ~ Sports Writer
Posted 4/23/22

UNIONVILLE — The defenses and goalies shined as the District 6-A soccer matchup between the Community Vikings and Forrest Rockets remained scoreless for 67 minutes Thursday before the Vikings …

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Vikings break out of deadlock to beat Rockets

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UNIONVILLE — The defenses and goalies shined as the District 6-A soccer matchup between the Community Vikings and Forrest Rockets remained scoreless for 67 minutes Thursday before the Vikings erupted for two goals in just over two minutes and went on to blank the Rockets 2-0.
"We knew it was going to be a hard game. Forrest just pressures hard and they've got a good defense," Coach Jesse Cooper of the Vikings said.
After the teams tied in their first meeting earlier in the season, goalies Villamar Anica of the Vikings and Josh Rumley of the Rockets used their net play to keep their teams within striking distance of taking the lead as both teams battled to gain the upper hand.
Community (3-3-1, 2-2-1) kept the pressure on and had numerous chances to take the lead early in the first half, but a shot that hit the post from close range and other narrow misses along with the goalkeeping of Rumley kept the Vikings off the scoreboard.
The Rockets were not able to score in the first 40 minutes as the teams went into the intermission tied at 0-0.
Forrest picked up the tempo and reached the Viking end of the field with more regularity in the second half, but Villamar Anica was true to the test and stopped all Rocket shots to maintain the scoreless tie.
The Vikings finally broke the ice with 12:50 remaining as Randy Anica found the back of the net on a free kick to give Community a 1-0 lead.
“We just came alive after that free kick goal by Randy and we turned the pressure on and played a lot better," Cooper said.
Cooper urged Randy Anica to direct the free kick toward the goal.
"It was a perfect distance," Cooper said. "He likes to power his shots and usually the closer ones he'll hit in the wall or hit over." 
"It was just the perfect range for him to power it in," Cooper added. "It was beautiful, top corner goal."
A little over two minutes later, freshman Coy Rogers scored from the right side to increase the Viking lead to 2-0.
Both teams had scoring chances in the final 10 minutes, but neither team could score the rest of the way as the Vikings took the district win.
"Our defense definitely played much better today," Cooper said.  "We had a couple of scary moments, but my goalkeeper Villamar had some really good saves today and definitely saved us."
Community travels to Watertown for a non-district matchup on Tuesday.               
                                                                            
Forrest          0  0 — 0
Community  0  2 — 2
 
Second Half
C — Randy Anica goal (12:50).
C— Coy Rogers goal (10:30).