Boys soccer team downs St. James, 3-2

Berkeley Springs overcame adversity to defeat St. James 3-2 on Tuesday, September 4, at Morgan Field.

The Indians playing shorthanded because of injury, and with other players hampered by injury, managed to juggle the lineup and come up with a big win over an opponent they had never beaten.

"We've had a number of key players injured and we had to scramble our lineup," said Berkeley Springs coach Jamie Chenoweth. "Josh Wise and Ben Earl showed their leadership in the win. Ben commanded the defense and foiled many of St. James' opportunities. Josh was instrumental in holding the center and created many opportunities for us to score. Even though he is one of the best strikers in the area, he came back to the midfield knowing that the game would be won or lost there, showing once again why he is a leader of the team. And, Matt Martin, playing with an injured quad, scored all three of our goals."

The Indians led 2-0 at the half and due to a strong defensive effort from Earl, Wise, Cody Riffle, John Gordon, Sueng Hon and Dustin Triplett in goal prevailed 3-2. Triplett was credited with 12 saves.

Martin scored all of Berkeley Springs' goals, assisted by Paul Truitt, Riffle and Josh Wise.

St. James out shot Berkeley Springs 20-10.

The Indians played at Hedgesville on Thursday, September 6, losing to the Eagles 5-0.

Berkeley Springs played the Eagles tough for the first half and trailed 1-0 at the intermission. Unfortunately, Berkeley Springs, already depleted by injury, lost senior sweeper Earl to an apparent broken leg. He had just played brilliantly in the win over St. James and his loss, another big blow to the team, was more than the Tribe could overcome.

Berkeley Springs, 3-3 on the season, will play at Musselman today, September 12, before hosting Frankfort on Saturday, September 15 and St. Maria Goretti on September 18.