Daphne Trojan Soccer: Game Reports

Daphne vs. Foley

Daphne controlled the ball effectively throughout a one-sided 4-0 win against Foley, in which the Trojans were led by Levi Ehmka’s two goals.

Daphne’s first score was reflective of the ball movement and passing the Trojan’s displayed much of the game to keep the Lions on their heels. Jordan Kenny brought the ball down the right sideline, made a crossing pass into the middle to Tyler Cox who slid the ball through a seam in the defense up to Ehmka on a run toward the left goal post. Ehmka booted the ball in from short range for the goal and a 1-0 lead mid way through the first half.

Daphne goalkeeper Will Carpenter, who wasn’t seeing much action due to the Trojan’s control of the ball offensively, was brought out of the goal to take a penalty kick later in the first half. His shot missed, glancing off the left goal post, to keep the score 1-0 at the half.

The Trojans picked up their second goal two minutes into the second half when a long kick up field by Daphne slipped through a Foley defender’s legs. Ehmka gathered in the ball and fired a hard shot on goal that the keeper deflected away. Cox grabbed the rebound and kicked it in for the goal.

Daphne added to its lead 2-0 lead when Austin Ahern headed in a corner kick from Josh Ducote in what has become one of the Trojan’s most effective scoring methods. Moments later with an assist from Sam Seawell, Ehmka  scored the final goal with some nifty footwork to maneuver the ball past several defenders and launch a low shot into the goal from the center of the field about 25 yards out.

Daphne picked up its sixth straight shutout.

Daphne High Forward Levi Ehmka picked up a hat trick in the game’s first five minutes, and the Trojans defense earned its third straight shutout in an 8-0 win against Spanish Fort Tuesday night.

               It was a goal-scoring frenzy for the Trojans in the first 15 minutes. Emka scored a fourth goal minutes after his hat trick and Tyler Cook headed in a corner kick from Josh Gurvitz, for a 5-0 lead. The shots kept coming but missed their mark or were hauled in by the Toros’ goalkeeper for the next 45 minutes of play until Travis Purser and Tyler Cox added goals midway through the second half to take a 7-0 lead. Gurvitz, who controlled the ball effectively all night from his center midfield position, booted in the final goal.  Seeing a seam open in the defense he launched a low hard kick from about 35 yards out to score.

               The scoring began on an Austin Ahern crossing pass that Ehmka controlled, then from the left side of the goal booted it high into the right corner. Minutes later Cox pushed the ball up the left middle of the field, made a short pass to the center where Ehmka took it in stride and drilled a hard shot past the goalkeeper. Next, Jordan Kenny fed the ball into Ehmka with a crossing pass in front of the Toros goal, and Ehmka kicked it in. His fourth goal came as he cut to the left goal post and a ball squirted through traffic right to Ehmka, who tapped it in from close range.

               Despite the scoreless stretch, Daphne still maintained possession much of the time. The Trojans found the goal again mid way through the second half. In heavy traffic near Spanish Fort’s goal, several Trojans took kicks at the goal before Purser knocked in a rebound shot. A minute later Ehmka served up an assist, directing a pass from the right side of the field to Cox in the middle who launched a shot into the upper left corner of the goal.   

Daphne High School scored two goals while playing a man down against Fairhope High, and the Trojan defense notched its second straight shutout against a top area team in a 2-0 win at Fairhope Friday night.

               Daphne’s Josh Gurvitz hit a free kick low and hard from about 30 yards out that deflected sharply off a Pirate and into the right side of the goal, while the Pirate keeper was in position to stop the shot’s original trajectory with four minutes left in the first half. A red card against the Trojan’s Joe Lieb a few minutes earlier had Daphne playing a man short for the remainder of the contest. The Trojan’s added their second goal on a corner kick 13 minutes into the second half. Gurvitz placed his corner kick right in front of the goal and Tyler Cook slipped through the defense to head the ball in for a 2-0 lead that held until time expired.

The Trojans’ goal came after a period of Fairhope’s most intense offensive pressure to open the second half. In one flurry, the Pirate’s Nathan Gillespie made a sharp header off of a long crossing pass from a teammate. Daphne goalkeeper Will Carpenter made a diving deflection to knock the ball away. Carpenter made another leaping save with 20 minutes remaining and the Pirates never got another strong shot on goal the rest of the game.

Even though playing a man down, it wasn’t apparent much of the game as Daphne held the advantage possessing the ball on offense throughout the first half and made a variety of runs at the Pirate’s goal in the second half that kept Fairhope on its heels. Daphne took 8 shots on goal for the game with the Fairhope goalkeeper grabbing 2 saves. Carpenter had 3 saves coming from 6 Fairhope shots on goal.

Toolen

Daphne and McGill dueled to a scoreless draw Tuesday night in a game that saw two defenses tenaciously fight off offensive well-coordinated offensive attacks. Fittingly, strong defensive plays at both ends of the field in the final minute preserved the tie.

For Daphne it came when McGill found a seam in the middle of the field to the goal with 30 seconds to play and looked poised for an open shot on goal, but the Trojan’s last defender, Joe Lieb, took a good angle from his position on the left side and kicked the ball away before the Yellowjackets could launch the shot. Moments earlier Daphne’s Jordan Kenny made a crossing pass from the right sideline to the front of the goal where several Trojans were in position to deflect or head the ball in for an apparent winning goal. However, McGill’s goalkeeper snatched the pass out of the air before it reached its target.   

To be sure there were a few scoring threats throughout the game from both sides and a lot of action inside the goalkeeper box, but mostly the defenses effectively ended any offensive runs before they could culminate in strong shots on goal. Trojan defender Tyler Cook repeatedly snuffed out coordinated attacks from the Yellowjackets, while Lieb’s stop in the final seconds was but one of many opportunities where he wrestled the ball away from McGill.

Daphne held a distinct edge in possessing the ball through the second half, as they probed for vulnerability in McGill’s defense. But just when the pressure appeared to open a crack, the Yellowjackets would recover and prevent a shot. Among Daphne’s best opportunities in the second half came when Trojan Levi Ehmka lobbed a short pass behind the McGill defense and Tyler Cox gathered it in a step ahead of the defense. The two defenders managed to close in and tap the ball away before Cox could launch a shot inside the box.

Daphne goalkeeper Will Carpenter made his best save of the night on McGill’s strongest shot of the game with 15 minutes to play. The Yellowjackets maintained the advantage possessing the ball in the first half but were unable get off many strong shots. It was Daphne that actually came closer to scoring. Daphne sent the ball down toward the McGill goal on a long fee kick the Ehmka gathered in but shot high over the goal. Mid way through the first half Josh Gurvitz fired a long shot in traffic that sailed just above the goal’s crossbar. Daphne (5-2-3) faces cross-town rival Fairhope (1-2-4) Friday night 7:00 pm at Volanta Park.          

Daphne asserted control of the game early against Alma Bryant early adding goals steadily throughout the contest en route to a 10-0 shutout in which seven Trojans scored goals.

               Levi Ehmka, Jordan Kenny and Austin Ahern scored two goals apiece. Joe Lieb, Josh Gurvitz, Travis Purser and Tyler Cox each scored one goal. The game ended with eight minutes to play due to the mercy rule when Daphne scored its 10^th goal.

               Alma Bryant’s goalkeeper made a number of saves against a barrage of Daphne shots that came from all angles and spots on the field. With Daphne effectively possessing the ball on offense, Coach Rick Andrews rotated several of his defenders up to offense to get them involved in the action.

               The scoring began 15 minutes into the game when Levi Ehmka carried the ball from midfield past defenders and into striking range where he fired a shot past the goalkeeper. On a similar run a few minutes later, Alma Bryant prevented Ehmka from getting an opening to the goal so he dropped a pass back to Kenny who booted a hard high shot into the goal from about 40 yards out.

               Ahern headed in a free kick from Gurvitz for a 3-0 lead midway through the first half. Ehmka followed with another long run, dribbling past defenders along the right side kicking in the goal. Gurvitz booted a goal from 30 yards out then minutes later and sent another well-placed free kick toward Ahern who headed the ball in for a 6-0 halftime lead.

               On the opening touch of the second half, Gurvitz lobbed a kick behind the Alma Bryant defense that Cox tracked down and kicked in for the goal. Ehmka made another run with the ball down to the goal from near midfield, drawing defenders to him and launching a soft crossing pass that Kenny headed in.

               Lieb was successful on a penalty kick for the Trojans ninth goal. After a half dozen saves from the goalkeeper to keep Alma Bryant on the field, Purser launched a strong shot from the right about 30 yards out that sailed passed the keeper for the 10-0 final score. Will Carpenter had two saves. Reserve goalkeeper Teron Fleeton had two more.    

The Daphne High Men’s soccer team defeated Huntsville 1-0 to highlight soggy Island Cup play this weekend. The Trojans finished 1-1-1 for the weekend, losing to Enterprise 4-1 and playing Davidson to a 1-1 tie.

Daphne scored a goal off the opening touch of the second half against Huntsville Saturday morning and that was all the Trojan’s needed, shutting out HHS. Huntsville got possession to open the half, kicking it back toward its own goal to control the ball. After a couple of passes, Daphne’s Tyler Cox intercepted the ball and slipped a quick pass to Levi Ehmka cutting toward the goal on the left. Ehmka powered his shot past the keeper.

With the quick strike, the Trojans had picked up right where they left off the end of the first half. Through a scoreless tie at the half, Daphne ended the period with a flurry that started with a long kick up field toward the HHS goal. Ehmka raced down the ball while the Huntsville keeper charged out of the goal. Ehmka got to the ball a moment sooner with a hard shot, that deflected high off of the keeper and appeared to be falling into the goal, but it land just over the crossbar on the top of the goal.

Josh Gurvitz’s ensuing corner kick appeared to be bending in to the goal, but the Huntsville keeper punched the back outside of the box where Gurvitz picked up the rebound and fired it back toward the goal. The HHS goalkeeper made another solid save on the shot to end the half.

Late in the second half Huntsville increased the pressure on offense. Goalkeeper Will Carpenter made a leaping deflection to stop a hard high shot from Huntsville on one of its strongest shots of the game.

In its final game of the tournament, Daphne opened the game with a quick score on an assist from Emhka to Cox to take a 1-0 lead over Davidson. Emhka passed the ball into the middle to Cox who kicked it in from close range.

Younger players for both teams saw lots of action as the coaches substituted liberally. Davidson earned its goal when one of the Warriors got behind Daphne’s defense and, going one-on-one with first time goalie Terron Fleeton, was able to get the shot past the keeper.

In Friday night’s opening loss to Enterprise, Daphne battled EHS in an evenly matched 1-1 tie at the half in an abbreviated game shortened due to earlier rain delays. Austin Ahern made Daphne’s only goal on a header off a free kick from Josh Gurvitz while Enterprise finished a one on one penalty kick. The game unraveled for the Trojans during a 10-minute span of the second half, giving up three goals. The first came on a short shot in the goalkeeper box, the second on a header off of a long free kick from near midfield, and the last on a direct free kick from just outside the goalkeeper box. All came on well-controlled offensive runs by Enterprise.

In a rematch of the 6A playoff game that ended Daphne High’s season last spring, the Trojans possessed the ball virtually the entire second half, breaking a scoreless tie midway through the period in route to a 2-0 win.

Daphne’s Josh Gurvitz put a well-placed free kick from midfield in front of the Warriors’ goal. Austin Ahern wrestled the ball away from a couple defenders and launched his shot, deflecting the ball off the left goal post into the net. Despite Daphne’s effectiveness controlling possession of the ball, Davidson’s defense held tough, either coming up with saves or forcing errant shots. Gurvitz hit a strong high shot on one run that hit the cross bar and bounced out. Trojan Levi Ehmka chased down a ball behind Davidson’s defenders and took a shot, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, that missed just right of the far post.

Daphne sealed the win late in the game when its continued offensive pressure around Davidson’s goal created a hand ball penalty in the goalkeeper box. Tyler Cox booted in the penalty kick with a high shot that slipped in under the crossbar.

Davidson made a couple effective runs to the goal during the game that resulted in strong shots on goal met with equally solid stops by Daphne goalkeeper Will Carpenter, who earned his second shutout of the season. The shutout came with the help of defensive and midfield play that ended most of Davidson’s possessions before shots could be launched.

Daphne improved its record to 3-1-1. The Trojans outshot the Warriors 12 to 3. The two teams will meet again this Friday 22nd in the Island Cup Tournament at the Orange Beach Sportsplex at 3:00 pm.

Daphne High defeated Pelham High 2-1 on penalty kick in the final two minutes of the game Saturday. DHS’ Tyler Cox made a run from near midfield through several Pelham defenders and was fouled in the goalkeeper’s box setting up the penalty kick. Cox placed the PK low and to the left corner of the goal past the diving goalkeeper.

Pelham had led or tied the entire game after scoring early on a long high kick from 40 yards out. Pelham was possessing the ball out beyond the goalkeeper box when they forward shot from the far right side and drilled it into the left corner of the goal. The lead held throughout the first half despite a number of strong shots on goal by both teams.

Daphne got on the scoreboard in the second half on a corner kick. Austin Ahern headed a well-placed corner kick to the near post from Josh Gurvitz into the net. Pelham followed with three effective runs to the goal, but were unable to get past Trojan goalkeeper Will Carpenter.

Carpenter had 4 saves during a game that rarely got mired in the midfield area, as both teams repeatedly pushed from one end of the field to the other.  Daphne had 8 shots on goal.

Daphne wrapped up the Southern Shootout with a 2-1-1 record.

Briarwood Christian broke through the middle of Daphne’s defense and kicked in a goal from 20 yards out in the second half to defeat Daphne High 2-1 Saturday in the Southern Shootout. The two teams exchanged goals in the first half, beginning with a score from Daphne’s Levi Ehmka 10 minutes into the game.

Ehmka made a run with the ball on the left side of the goal past a defender, drawing out Brairwood’s goalkeeper and lobbing the kick over the keeper’s head. Brairwood tied the game later in the half with a shot on goal that Daphne goalkeeper Will Carpenter was in position to stop but deflected off a Daphne player into the opposite corner of the net.

Other than Briarwood’s winning goal, its offense threatened little during the second half. With high winds at its back, Daphne made a couple of offensive runs late in the game, including a shot at close range that the Briarwood goalkeeper stopped with a strong save to preserve the win. A Daphne header off of a corner kick also went just wide of the goal.

Daphne finished with 10 shots on goal and Carpenter had 1 save in goal.