CHESTERTOWN — Kent County High School’s boys soccer team will close out its regular season today with the opportunity to reach .500 for the first time this fall.
KCHS picked up arguably its most important wins of the season to date last week — each by a goal, and on the road — to improve to 5-6 heading into today’s match with Class 2A North Caroline (4-4-1) at 4 p.m. on the turf at Washington College.
It’s Senior Day for the Trojans.
A win could catapult Kent County from fourth all the way up to second in the Class 1A East Region I, depending on how things shake out with the five other schools in the region.
The Trojans put themselves in this promising position with a gritty, 2-1 come-from-behind victory Friday night at 1A East I front-runner St. Michaels (6-2-1).
Sophomore Dylan Peralta’s penalty kick in the 75th minute proved to be the proverbial dagger for the Saints, who celebrated a 1-0 lead at halftime while also crowning their homecoming king and queen.
“They pressed us for the final five minutes but we were able to hold them off,” KCHS coach Dennis Hickman told The Evening Enterprise in a text message. “The win was because the boys really wanted it and never gave up.”
Hickman said St. Michaels “had momentum in the first half but we matched their effort as the game went on.”
“Great win,” he added. “This team has always had the potential, just have trouble putting it together on the field at times.”
The Saints took a 1-0 lead about six minutes in.
The Trojans leveled the score in the 57th minute, courtesy of their opponents. Senior captain Stewart Hickman took a free kick from nearly half field. It was a high kick that a St. Michaels player headed into the box and then the ball bounced into the back of the net to tie things up.
Kent County also had some help on what would hold up as the winning goal.
Junior Fox Ford set up teammate Gabe Parr for what had the makings of a high-percentage shot when a defender took out Parr.
In the words of coach Hickman, Peralta “crushed” the ensuing PK for a 2-1 lead.
Senior Peter Sine and freshman Jake Stumpf split halves in the net, which has been the script for the locals for most of the season. Both were outstanding, according to coach Hickman.
Stewart Hickman in the back and Peralta in the midfield also played at a high level.
Overall, “it was one of the best team efforts,” coach Dennis Hickman wrote in the text message — especially after a disappointing 3-2 loss at Snow Hill two days earlier.
The Trojans opened the week with a 1-0 victory at Colonel Richardson (4-5-1) on junior Sebastien Cousineau’s second-half goal. They led in time of possession, but had a handful of scoring chances thwarted because of being offside.
Sine helped to salt away the win — and the Trojans’ first clean sheet of the season — when he stopped a PK late in the match.
The 3-2 loss at 1A East Region II leader Snow Hill (5-5) was a bit of a head-scratcher, coach Hickman acknowledged.
“Not sure what to say other than we can’t score,” he wrote in a text message to The Evening Enterprise.
“We had more opportunities,” Hickman said in the text message, “but they had one kid that was fast and would break away and he could score.”
He said the outcome was “disappointing and not what was expected.”
Peralta figured in both of the Trojans’ goals — he finished off a setup from Cousineau in the 63rd minute and then served up a penalty kick.
