Boys Soccer: Hot offense in the first half propels Escambia to victory over Pensacola

The cold and rainy weather conditions on the pitch at Emmitt Smith Field wasn’t enough to slow down a torrid Escambia attack on Monday evening.

The Gators picked up their fifth win of the season after beating Pensacola 4-2 headed into the winter break. Escambia captured its first home victory this season to improve its record to 5-4-1. It was also the team's first win since a 6-1 result at East Hill Christian on Nov. 28.

The soccer showdown featured two of the area’s best scorers with Tigers freshman phenom Cooper Nolen and Gators senior midfielder Orion Brown.

Brown got his day started early and punched in the home team's first score by kicking it over the heads of three Pensacola defenders from 20 yards out minutes into the first half. Moments later, the Tigers responded on a penalty kick by Lennin Barahona to tie the score at 1-1.

It was all Gators for the rest of the half. Griffin York got his third goal of the season with shot on the right side just outside of the box.

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Brown notched his second goal of the game right before the half as the Gators enjoyed a 3-1 cushion entering the break. The Tigers defense clamped down as the rain picked up when the teams returned to the pitch, but their offense wasn’t enough.

"In the first half, we played three guys on the back end, but the second half, we had to load up because (Pensacola) rotated the ball very good," Escambia head coach Del Greatwood said. "We put extra man here and there without giving up too much. They have some good players, but our midfielders played well tonight."

Barahona collected his second goal of the game in the early minutes of the second half to bring it to a one-score game.

Hector Maldonado had a chance to tie it for the Tigers on a penalty kick but came up just short.

The Gators played keep away to burn some clock before York cleaned up a missed shot late on a breakaway opportunity to secure the victory and his second score of the game.

"It was a tough game to play during exam week. I try not to schedule games during exam week. I told them to get a lot of rest heading into the game," Pensacola head coach Steven Nolen said. "Tonight, we had opportunities to win this game, but we just didn't and we are much better offensively than what we showed tonight."

Weathered the storm

Light rain sprinkled onto the pitch during pre-match warmups, but the conditions picked up as it got closer to start of the match. Escambia seemed not to be affected by the conditions and came out with a ton of the energy at the start of the game.

The Gators were coming off back-to-back defeats in matches that they only scored three goals combined. The four goals scored Monday tonight was their second-best scoring output of the season.

Pensacola were aggressive on the defensive side, but didn't attack like it has been doing all season. The team has scored 25 goals so far as a team and averaged 3.1 goals per match. The Tigers have managed to score at least two goals in all but one match this season regardless of outcome. That number is all they managed to muster up against the Gators.

Cooper Nolen was also held scoreless for just the third time in his early high school career. Nolen had scored 10 goals in seven games entering the matchup against Escambia.

"We gave up three goals, but two of them our goalkeeper (Jaden Fernandez) was off his line and they converted two outside shots that I corrected him on at halftime. We tried to play it out of the backline on the third goal," Steven Nolen said. "We had a penalty kick that we didn't convert on and it could've exchanged the complexion of the game. A few calls were missed that could've changed the outcome, but we can't worry about that and everyone has to continue to do their job."

Brown continues rolling

Brown is having a senior season to remember.

The two-sport athlete has now scored 12 goals in 10 matches after his two-goal performance against Pensacola. He got the Escambia offense going.

The rain also didn't seem to bother him much, as he was one of the few players on the pitch that didn't lose their traction when chasing down long passes.

"It was freezing rain like in England (laughing), but it's tough to prepare your team for this type of weather because it doesn't happen that often in Pensacola." Greatwood said. "I've been coaching here for 10 years and it was one of the worst weather conditions I've had to coach in. It was very slick, but our guys handled it well."

Much needed break

Both teams are looking forward to the winter break.

Following their first victory in three weeks, the Gators entered the break with a winning record. Greatwood is not letting up, though.

After exam week and the Christmas holiday, he plans to have the boys back on the pitch to get some light work in to prepare for the second half of the season.

"We are going to be training over the break and we've got a clear plan of action heading into January," Greatwood said. "We host districts here for the first time in maybe 20 years here. It is going to be a good thing for the west side and we are looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, winless since Nov. 18, the Tigers (3-5-2) are looking forward to the break for different reasons.

"I want my guys to rest. We have a lot of injured guys right now. I did tell them to touch the ball but not in organized fashion," Steven Nolen said. "They understand what we want to do as a team tactically. I just want them to maintain their touch and fitness over the break. Play some in a relaxed environment."

Greg Hollis is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at ghollis@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Boys soccer: Escambia uses first-half burst to outlast Pensacola