George Wythe defeats Fort Chiswell 6-1 in soccer

The George Wythe Maroons boys’ varsity soccer team matched up against county rival Fort Chiswell this past Monday night and defeated the Pioneer 6-1.
The Pioneers came out playing hard and kept the Maroon’s explosive offense at bay until 11 minutes of the first half had passed and midfielder Randy Divers redirected a headed pass from forward Cody Burgess past the Pioneer’s keeper.
Five minutes later the Maroons would find the back of the Fort Chiswell net again, this time from Burgess, who scored as he collected a pass from Vince Hagy and slotted the ball between the Pioneer keeper and the near post.
However, the persistent Fort Chiswell side would not end the half with nothing to show for its hard work as it forced an own goal off of the usual steady hands of GW goal keeper, Woody Wilder.  The determined Fort Chiswell team did not allow the Maroon offense another goal and the half ended with GW ahead 2-1.
The Maroon offense finally seemed to slip into its next gear as it began the second half earning two penalty kicks.  The first penalty kick against the Pioneers was taken by GW sophomore Brandon Atwell; however, Fort Chiswell’s goal keeper Matt Gleason was up to the task and stopped Atwell’s hard shot. Unfortunately for Gleason, the ball spilled to Atwell’s feet and he quickly slipped his own rebound in for GW’s third goal.
The second penalty kick to come at the Pioneer expense was less dramatic as it became a keeper versus keeper event.  Woody Wilder scored on a well placed kick and beat the Fort Chiswell keeper making the score 4-1.
While the Pioneers competed with a hard-nosed, tough tackling style, the Maroon’s accuracy, finesse and pace proved superior as Atwell scored from a free kick taken several yards outside the 18 yard box completing his brace and Josh Stephens assisted Andrew Meade to conclude the scoring for the match with GW prevailing 6-1.
After the match, George Wythe Head Coach James Stitt stated, “Every time you play a county rival you have to expect an intense match. None of these kids want to lose and both sides played with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm tonight.  I can only expect and am looking forward to watching this rivalry grow.“
The George Wythe Maroons will travel to face AA opponent Marion Thursday night and conclude their regular season against Region C rival Glenvar Friday night at Pendleton Field.