LAURINBURG —Perhaps the biggest shock of the season came Monday when the Fighting Scots boys soccer team was held to a 1-1 tie against the Westover Wolverines.
After an eight-day layoff, during which the Scots did not suit up for a regular-season game due to inclement weather, Scotland displayed an effort that raised questions about how badly the team wants to be successful.
“I’m lost for words,” Scotland head coach Jeremy White said. “This is not how we play, and it was frustrating. I don’t know what happened with our performance.”
The game would progress slowly throughout the first half as neither team could find the back of the net. Scotland would strike first with 2.1 seconds remaining before halftime; Jackson Hernandez scored on a penalty kick, giving the Scots a 1-0 lead.
From that moment forward, the Scots appeared to play more not to lose than to win.
Scotland held a 1-0 lead for 39 minutes, 21.3 seconds before Westover found the net to even the score at 1-1. With time running out, Scotland’s last shot in desperation was unsuccessful before the buzzer sounded.
“It’s as if we were doing everything in our power to lose the game,” White said. “We came in way too cocky, and this was not the performance we wanted to put out. We have superstars on this team, but they choose when to play like it and when not.”
“This tie hurts more than any of the two losses,” he added. “Coming into this game, we were supposed to reassure ourselves, and that didn’t happen.”
Scotland (3-2-1) will have a quick turnaround Tuesday as they travel to Seventy-First at 7 p.m.