By Jonathan Schwab
Fielding a team for the first time in four years, the Parry McCluer High School coed soccer team started the season with a 10-1 road loss to Boys Home of Virginia on Thursday night in Covington.
Boys Home, which had already played several games this season, scored five goals in the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Fighting Blues, who had just two substitutes available, got their first goal of the season about 22 minutes into the game when sophomore Eddie Robinson rebounded a missed shot. The Boys Home goalkeeper came out too far, and Robinson put the ball in the goal.
PM trailed 5-1 at halftime, but the Bears scored another five goals in the second half. With several of his players cramping up amid the 10-1 deficit, PM head coach Chuck Rice asked the officials to end the game with 20 minutes left in regulation.
In goal for the Blues was freshman A.J. Roberts, who made six saves.
Giving credit to the Bears, Rice said, “They really controlled the middle. … Our inexperience in the back line, and the athleticism and experience of their older players was just too much for us.”
The Blues were originally scheduled to start the season at home against Pioneer District rival Eastern Montgomery on Tuesday of last week, but Eastern Montgomery decided to postpone the game due to field and player logistics.
PM is a young team, with one senior, one junior, three sophomores and nine freshmen. Gabriel Osorio, the lone senior, is a co-captain. There are three girls on the team: junior Xenia Guevara and freshmen Adrienne Wills and Izzy Ramsey, a co-captain.
The last time the Blues had a team, in the 2022 season, it was a coed team that went 2-10-1.
Since then, the Blues didn’t have the numbers for a team, but they were able to get the team together. Rice was PM’s head coach for six years, from 2017-22, after serving as an assistant coach under head coach John Butler for five years.
Serving as PM’s assistant coach this year is Lilian Eskelsen, who played high school soccer in California before going to Southern Virginia University. “She’s a really good coach and a really good person,” said Rice.
The Blues were scheduled to play at district rival Narrows yesterday, and their home opener is scheduled for next Monday at 6 p.m. against Jefferson Christian Academy.
