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Fayetteville’s Colin Connor fires for a goal in the Rockets’ Sept. 14 win at Eastern.

Kirchner, Connor fire for two goals apiece in Fayetteville win –

By Wade Linville –

Southern Hills Athletic Conference soccer action continued on Wednesday, Sept. 14 as the Fayetteville-Perry Rockets ventured to Eastern Brown High School to take on the home-standing Warriors. When the dust cleared and the final whistle was sounded, it was the Rockets coming away with a 5-0 victory to mark their second win of the season and up their record to 2-1-1 in SHAC play.
Not only were the Rockets backed by a sturdy defense led by goalkeeper junior goalkeeper Nick Baldwin who recorded the shutout, but also playing key roles in the shutout victory were senior defenders Nic Ball, Greg Kable, and Christian Hansel.
On the offensive end, excellent passing by the Rockets would lead to goals for juniors Colin Connor and Evan Kirchner, as well as sophomore Garrett Craig.
Kirchner and Connor finished with two goals apiece to lead Fayetteville scorers.
Craig scored Fayetteville’s first goal of the day less than 11 minutes into the contest to give the Rockets an early 1-0 lead.
Kirchner scored his first goal of the day with 23:45 remaining in the first half of play, leaving the Warriors trailing 2-0.
The Warriors were able to prevent another Rocket score for the remainder of the first half with some excellent defensive play coming from Eastern seniors Joey Balas, Noah Craig, and Jacob Diener late in the half.
The Warriors returned in the second half to hold the Rockets scoreless for more than 21 minutes to start the half, but an assist by Connor for a goal by Kirchner expanded the Fayetteville lead to 3-0 with 18:12 to play.
Kirchner returned the favor just over two minutes later, dishing out a well-placed assist to Connor, who finished the play off with an excellent shot to give the Rockets a 4-0.
Kirchner later scored on a solo attack with 9:28 to go, marking the final goal of the day.
“I thought we started out a little slow, but we picked things up in the second half,” Fayetteville head coach Derrick Connor said following Wednesday’s win at Eastern. “I thought the passing was much better in the second half. Colin (Connor) and Evan (Kirchner) work really well together on offense.”
The Rocket coach also credited the defensive effort by Baldwin and his three seniors.
“They did a really good job today,” he said of his team’s defense against the Warriors.
The Rockets were scheduled to return to their home field on Sept. 15 for a non-league game against Clermont Northeastern on Youth Night, and they are on the road again Sept. 19 at Wilmington High School.
The Warriors were scheduled to take on the Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington Blue Jays in a league contest at Blue Jays Stadium in Ripley, Sept. 16, and then to Zane Trace for a non-league contest on Sept. 17. The Warriors return home Sept. 21 for a league bout against the West Union Dragons.