LAURINBURG — Scotland soccer coach Blake Dickerson was not impressed with his team’s performance during a 2-1 loss to Sandhills Athletic Conference foe Purnell Swett on Wednesday.
“We didn’t seem to have the motivation, the will to win every ball,” Dickerson said. “I definitely saw my midfield tonight, we’d get a nice through ball down the line for a forward or a wing, but my center midfielder and my other side wouldn’t be there to finish, wouldn’t be there to look for that cross, to make a run, to attack.”
Hunter Edkins found the back of the net in the first half for Scotland’s only goal of the night.
Jalen Hunt scored a goal in the first half for Purnell Swett (3-2-2, 1-1 SAC) and Jesus Mendoza added the go-ahead goal in the second half after breaking away from the defense inside the box and firing a shot past Scotland goalkeeper Aubry Graham.
Adolfo Duran attempted a team-high four shots for Scotland (2-4, 0-2).
“We’ve got to work on that transition from defense to attack,” Dickerson said. “You get the ball off and you get back at the midfield, but you have to finish it. You have to get in that attacking third and you have to push it through.”
Jafet Robles finished with a pair of assists for the Rams.
“They were working for each other and passing it to each other, communicating, and that’s all we’re trying to get to,” Purnell Swett coach Alaric Strickland said of his team’s effort. “Them working together as one unit instead of just one versus 11.”
Mendoza’s deciding goal came with just under 18 minutes left in the game.
“We’ve been asking them to play early balls, and they did play an early ball,” Strickland said. “When you’ve got the defense running back towards their goal, that’s a dangerous thing every time. That’s what happens when you play early balls.”
Dickerson said the Fighting Scots are ‘stuck in defense mode’.
“We’re playing against a team that is nowhere near as good as us, and we just couldn’t get out of our own half,” Dickerson said.
In other Sandhills Athletic soccer action, Lumberton topped Jack Britt 1-0 on the road.
Quinton Frederick scored the deciding goal in the fourth minute on a Jon Von Rupp cornerkick.
