Boys' Soccer: Gainesville defends county title with 2-0 win over Eastside

Since its inception three years ago, the Alachua County Cup has yet to see a change of ownership.

And this year was no different as the Gainesville Hurricanes' boys' soccer team (9-0-2) outlasted the Eastside Rams (4-4-2) in a 2-0 match on Friday night from Citizens Field to win the program's third consecutive county championship.

Gainesville battles Covid-19 before Friday's matchup

Prior to Friday night's kickoff, the Hurricanes were forced to hold tryouts for a new goal keeper as Gainesville's veteran keeper missed the county championship after testing positive for the coronavirus.

"Just before we started the game, we tried out a bunch of people," said Gainesville head coach Basil Benjamin.

At the end of the on-the-spot tryout, it was junior Thomas Walker who got the nod to start in the box.

"He's a fantastic player," Benjamin said of Walker. "He's center-back, outside defender for us... He got in there and got a shutout tonight. So that was all him."

Back-and-forth first half ends in stalemate

While there was plenty happening on the field in the opening period, it wasn't reflected on the scoreboard as both the Hurricanes and Rams struggled to get a shot past each other's defense and into the back of the net.

In terms of possession, Gainesville had the edge in the first half, but couldn't orchestrate a score.

"Our positioning in the first half wasn't what it needs to be... our spacing of the players," Benjamin said.

The Hurricanes narrowly missed an opportunity to take a one-goal lead in the first half as a shot rebounded off the left goal post.

Defensively, Gainesville was able to use its familiarity of Eastside to its advantage.

"We know that they're a very talented team," Benjamin said. "A lot of these kids play together in club, so we know the players that they have that are dangerous. So what we tried to do was take those players away and make it difficult for them to score against us."

Eastside senior Nio Suzuki, who leads the Rams in goals, was smothered by the Hurricanes all match.

'Canes make corrections in second half

After struggling to get the ball into the goal in the opening period, Benjamin and the Hurricanes made the necessary adjustments to put some points on the board in the second half.

However, the first goal of the game was an own goal committed by Eastside's senior keeper, Matthew Bishop-Gylys.

After Gainesville senior James Proia sent a shot flying at the goal, Bishop-Gylys initially made the stop, but ended up falling backwards into the goal, resulting in a score for the 'Canes.

Just five minutes later, Gainesville senior Pierre Chery added an insurance goal for the Hurricanes to take a 2-0 lead with 28 minutes to play.

"He is very fast and athletic," Benjamin said of Chery. "And what we try to get him to do is just play full speed all the time. And then play combinations with his teammates to get to the goal."

Chery's goal on Friday night was his sixth of the season.

Looking ahead

The Gainesville Hurricanes will look to improve on the season on Jan. 18 as they host Suwannee at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, Eastside will host the Columbia Tigers on Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. as the Rams look to bounce back and gain momentum heading to the district playoffs.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Eastside boys' soccer falls to Gainesville in County Cup championship