McCallie smothers Huntsville in 6-0 soccer win

Soccer tile
Soccer tile

Ranked No. 4 nationally, the McCallie School soccer team was dominant from the opening minutes of Saturday's home game against Huntsville.

With too much size, skill and athletic ability for the visitors, the Blue Tornado won 6-0. They also displayed aggressiveness throughout.

"I want my guys to always play hard and to control what they can control," McCallie coach Chris Cushenbery said. "I was very pleased with our intensity from the first guy to the last, and that includes in the practices we've had leading up to this. We want to always give 100 percent in everything that we do."

Northwestern-bound Drew Viscomi scored three goals, beginning with a penalty kick four minutes into the game after forward Andre Roberts was taken down from behind in the box. Thirteen minutes later, Roberts scored from a Viscomi pass after he made a slide tackle deep in Huntsville territory to win possession.

"His work rate is really high. He trains really hard and pursues excellence, which raises the level of his teammates," Cushenbery said of Viscomi, who's had five hat tricks in seven games. "His hard work has really translated over to the field."

Benjamin Brock added a third goal for McCallie in stoppage time of the first half when he raced past Huntsville defenders and put a shot past the keeper. Brock caused issues for the Huntsville defense all game and scored twice.

"This year we have a lot of balance on the team, and it has taken pressure off of everybody," Cushenbery said. "We have a lot of guys who are dangerous, and we never feel that we have to rely on any one person. We can get goals from any position on the field, really. Guys like Benjamin Brock, Will McGregor, Andre Roberts, and I mean, the list goes on and on. We get good production from all of these guys."

Huntsville was never able to get anything going offensively. On its attempts to pass the ball downfield, the McCallie defense would either outrun or out-muscle Huntsville attackers, winning possession before the ball ever got to a dangerous spot on the field.

"Our defense was exceptionally pleasing today. That Huntsville team is really good, and I felt very safe all game long on the back side of our formation," Cushenbery said. "Team defense was really good, and I think a lot of that has to be credited to the way my guys communicate with each other out there."

He was able to get a lot of younger players on the field late in the game.

"The future is bright. We have more guys in the program than ever before," Cushenbery said. "There is a lot of depth on this team, so we have the blessing of being able to let these younger guys develop more before we have to really rely on them to win games for us."

The Blue Tornado will host seventh-ranked Father Ryan on Wednesday in their first region game.

Contact Ted Bryant at sports@timesfreepress.com.

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