In its first scrimmage of the season Tuesday, the Highland High School boys varsity soccer team tied Liberty Union High School, 1-1.
On an extremely humid day, Highland had a slow first half, playing too much ”‘air raid,” the school said on its website. But in the second half, the Hornets kept the ball on the ground more.
They rallied to tie the game with a direct kick from Caleb "The Bounty" Hunter.
The team will open the regular season Friday at home with a 5 p.m. kickoff against Fairbanks, described as a “seasoned” squad.
Both the boys and girls soccer teams will play Friday, Highland athletic director Mike Delaney told the Mount Vernon News.
“That's actually the first official home event of the fall in terms of a paying public to come and watch,” Delaney said. “So I'm so excited about that. And we have our first football game on the 20th of August and then our first volleyball match ... (on) the 21st.”
The number of students who participated in sports was down last year because of COVID-19 but has rebounded this year, he said.
“I would say we're up about 10 percent back to where we normally would be,” the athletic director said.
