In soccer, 10 goals scored in a game is a rare feat, and ten goals scored by one team is nearly impossible to achieve. But the impossible became possible in the Camp Verde boys soccer game against Payson, Thursday, Sept. 19, when, under a full moon, the Cowboys defeated the Payson Longhorns 10-0.
After four-straight losses in which they scored a total of four goals, including back to back shut-outs to Chino Valley, the Cowboys [3-4] broke out in a big way against the Longhorns [1-4-1], with seven different players finding the back of the Payson net.
“We played them in a scrimmage and it was fairly even; we just have been … not playing to our potential,” said Cowboys head coach David Miller. “We made a couple of adjustments to compensate for what our assets are on the team, and that’s what we came out and played today.
“This is more of what we anticipated with at the beginning of the year, with our senior leadership and the physical play that we can play and the speed that we have on this team.”
Senior Jose Perez opened the scoring with a header on a corner kick at 29 minutes, 51 seconds of the first half, and senior Edgar Aguayo followed that with a breakaway goal just 21 seconds later at 29:30 of the first half.
A penalty on Payson goalkeeper Jacob Avakian placed the ball 20 yards directly in front of the goal for a penalty kick that Cowboys’ junior midfielder Javier Valdez lofted just out of Avakian’s reach and into the net at 27:55 of the first half, the third Camp Verde goal in less than two minutes.
The Cowboys continued to be aggressive offensively, pounding Avakian, who had 14 saves in the game, with 15 more shots on goal before halftime.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Sept. 25, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
