Staff photo / Preston Byers
Hubbard’s Enzo Bianco dribbles the ball during the Eagles’ 2-1 home win vs. Poland on Tuesday.
HUBBARD — Hubbard’s boys soccer team overcame an early deficit Tuesday against Poland to stay perfect in Northeast 8 Conference play.
The Eagles fell behind less than 15 minutes into the match between two teams without a conference loss. However, Caleb Mackay put a pair of goals into Poland’s net to lead Hubbard to a 2-1 home victory.
“We were very pleased with our organization, our possession, being able to build out, have a little bit of patience,” Hubbard coach Cory Reinard said. “We were very impressed with that.”
Early on, neither team managed to generate many chances offensively, although Hubbard, in particular, struggled to put pressure on Poland’s defense and saw many of its attacks fizzle out in the midfield.
After a Poland turnover in the Bulldogs’ third of the field, though, Hubbard received a free kick about 20 yards away from the goal. Mackay struck the ball hard, placing it in the upper left part of the goal, but Poland goalkeeper Michael Daley made an acrobatic save to keep the teams in a scoreless tie.
Less than four minutes after Daley kept them even, AJ Lisko made it so they weren’t.
After being taken down in the box, the senior made the most of his penalty kick opportunity and put his shot past Talon Ifft, giving Poland a lead nearly 11 minutes into the match.
Hubbard did not let the goal linger. The Eagles immediately went on the offensive, and less than four minutes after surrendering a goal, Mackay finished off a well-orchestrated attack to tie the match at one goal apiece.
Reinard said part of the reason for his team’s slow start was its starting formation.
“We were sitting back just a little bit,” Cory Reinard said. “In one way, we wanted to give them a little bit of possession, let them have it, try to win it and see if then we can find those quick counter attacks.”
Hubbard, which altered its formation after falling behind, kept up the pressure and continued to stifle Poland in the midfield until the Eagles jumped ahead on another goal by Mackay, who gained control in the Bulldogs’ box and buried it in the net.
Near the end of the first half and all throughout the second, Poland began to play with a greater sense of urgency as it attempted to pull even with Hubbard.
“You don’t need to score the first minute into that second half. Forty minutes is a long time,” Poland coach Brian Garcar said. “We felt like we had some chances that we let get away in the first half. So we felt like we’d be able to create a few opportunities, and then it’s just on us to try to put the ball in the back.”
However, despite the immense pressure Poland applied as time continued to tick away, Hubbard limited the number of close-range opportunities and forced the Bulldogs to settle for longer, lower-percentage shots in the second half.
The Eagles successfully fended off Poland’s runs and burned up the remaining time to secure Hubbard’s third NE8 victory of the season and hand Poland its first conference defeat.
“Obviously, it’s a disappointing result,” Garcar said. “We thought we had a pretty good game plan going into the game. We felt like we made some mental errors at different times, and they were able to capitalize.”
Poland (5-3-1, 2-1-0) has a chance to get back into the win column Thursday when it hosts NE8 opponent South Range.
Hubbard (5-3-2, 3-0-0), which will see Poland in a rematch Oct. 3, next plays at Lakeview on Thursday in another battle of teams unbeaten in NE8 play.
