The Cumberland United soccer team picked up another win earlier this week when it rolled through and over Upperman Middle School with 9-0 victories at the varsity and junior varsity levels.
Graham Davidson led the charge for CU in the varsity contest with three goals. Brody Harshaw’s goal followed Davidson’s opening tally to make it 2-0. Tony Mauricio scored the third goal and Davidson came back with a blast from just outside the penalty box to make it 4-0 for United.
“We really can’t complain with a 9-0 victory,” said Cumberland County coach Blake Allen. “However, after last week’s loss to DeKalb, we wanted to emphasize ball movement, urgency and shot selection. Against DeKalb, we felt as if we settled and took low percentage deep shots instead of making the extra pass to allow for a more favorable shot.”
Cumberland United is 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
“We are allowing .8 goals per game, with all the goals scored coming off of very fixable mistakes,” Allen said. “Soccer is as much mental as it is physical. We really make keeping focused a priority in our defensive third. We possess a lot during games, so often it can be easy to get caught watching what we do on the attack. All in all, I am very proud of our intensity and decision making from our defense.”
Uzi Jimenez put one in the back of the net to push Cumberland’s lead to 5-0. Davidson scored again, and when Aurelio Velasco scored later, United led 7-0. The scoring closed with goals by Iain Gargac and Liam Fuentes.
“There is always room to grow, spots to improve,” Allen said. “I feel as if we are starting to understand each other more and are playing more as a team instead of a group of talented individuals. The more we are able to play together, the more our chemistry will continue to improve.
“Our loss to DeKalb County was a wake-up call to our team. Our effort and intensity were questioned in the loss, and now they are out to prove that the loss will not define their season.”
Cumberland United kept the heat on in the junior varsity game, posting another 9-0 shutout.
Abraham Medina and Evan Whitson scored two goals each to lead CU to the easy victory. Other Cumberland United goals came from Connor Allen, Brayden Ward, Matthew Hedgecoth, Kobe Fuentes, and Kaiden Pulido.
“I can’t compliment these kids enough,” Allen said. “We are by far the physically smallest team in our conference, and we continue to meet and exceed our expectations. The way we pass and move off the ball is wonderful. The sky’s the limit for these young kids.”