By Tanner Mauk and Matt Smith

On Fri. May 2, the Atlantic Trojans hosted four soccer games, consisting of boys and girls JV and Varsity against Harlan. The boys played Harlan the week before, and although they still lost, the boys took a step in the right direction, when they kept the game close throughout most of the second half.

In the finals of their annual home tournament, the Trojans lost to the Cyclones 4-0. They were pretty much dominated throughout the whole game, when Harlan passed and dribbled around them. But the team made some adjustments and they were able to push their offense and make some goal scoring opportunities. The boys came out quick and pushed the pace in the first few minutes of the game, but the Cyclones slowed down the pace on a counterattack that was put into the back of the net.

Head Coach Justin Williams said, “This is going to be a fist fight. When they punch you in the mouth you have to fight back. You have to face the adversity that they give to you.” They did just that when they pushed their attacking for the rest of the first half. The Trojans were only able to capitalize on one occasion, but they held the Cyclones down to two goals. The goal came from David Thomsen, when Matt Smith passed a through ball to his feet. Thomsen was able to put the ball into the bottom left corner for a goal. The boys showed a better display of passing the ball than they had in the previous matchup with Harlan.

The Trojans ended the week with a disappointing loss, but they showed a better performance and hope to keep improving for the rest of their season. They play another doubleheader against A-H-S-T on Tues. May 6 where they hope to make corrections and come out with a win.