Boys soccer: Second-half goals sink Sterling against UT

STERLING – The Sterling and United Township boys soccer teams engaged in a defensive struggle Tuesday night at Roscoe Eades Stadium. Keeping the pressure on and controlling the time of possession throughout the second half, the Panthers prevailed, 2-0, in the Western Big 6 Conference matchup.

Panthers senior forward Austin Devilder had two breakaway shots on goal in the first half: one at the 35:27 mark, and one with 5:07 to go, but Sterling junior goalkeeper Marco Chino secured both balls to keep the game scoreless in the first half.

[ Sterling vs. United Township soccer photos ]

Sterling senior midfielder Julian Uresti nearly sunk a deep shot in the 35-to-40-yard range from the center of the field with 9:09 to go in the first half, but just floated it over the top of the net.

In the first half, United Township won the time of possession battle and out-shot Sterling 6-3. Chino went 6-for-6 saving shots on goal before the break, and UT senior goalkeeper Ismael Hernandez had one save.

“It definitely wasn’t our best game. We were a little sloppy in the middle, kind of getting outworked in that first half,” UT coach Mooch King said. “Didn’t really put too much pressure offensively, but we started to put things together in the second half, and one thing I like about our young team is they battled hard today. They battled through some mistakes and some sloppy play to come back and still end up getting a win against a very, very strong team in Sterling. The best thing they can do is just battle through when we’re not playing the right way, and they showed that tonight, which is what we’re going to need against really good teams in the conference.”

Just over six minutes into the second half, the Panthers finally ended the scoring drought, as senior forward Sai Thang buried a ball in the right corner of the net from the far side field, about 20 yards out.

UT struck again with 11.9 seconds to play, as Adrian Hughes lofted a 40-yard shot over Chino.

For the game, the Panthers outshot the Warriors 11-6. Hernandez had two saves for UT, while Chino had six for the Warriors.

“The first half, we were a little disconnected. Second half, we got a little more connected, but we got caught a couple times,” Sterling coach Brian Cebula said. “The first goal, we didn’t press the pass enough. Second goal, at the very end. I thought we played better. Played more connected in the second half, created some chances. We just needed that killer instinct at the end, and we didn’t have that.”