Gallery: Forest stays undefeated after physical win over rival Buchholz

The Forest Wildcats boys’ soccer team moved to 9-0-4 on the season after beating Gainesville Buchholz 3-1 on Thursday night.

These two teams were the last undefeated teams in Marion and Alachua counties heading into the matchup and both are consistently good, which has led to a fierce rivalry the past few years.

Buchholz was on the attack in the first half as they had five shots on goal but could not punch it in. Their best chance came with 15 minutes left in the half and a penalty kick opportunity for Reed Rousseau, who came into the game tied for the team lead with four goals.

Rousseau went to his right and Forest goalie Garrett Smith made an outstanding diving save to keep the game scoreless. Smith, a freshman, was ready for the moment and did not back down.

“Goalkeepers are never supposed to save penalty kicks but I got my hand to it and may have gotten a little lucky but I kept the ball out of the goal. That’s all that matters, to help the team succeed,” Smith said.

The saved penalty kick was the third shot on goal in a two-minute span for Buchholz that did not get in. Forest used the momentum from the save to get a couple of good chances to score but a missed header on a free kick kept the teams off the scoreboard heading into halftime.

In the opening couple minutes of the second half, Forest midfielder Blaise Kemerson took two shots on goal. On the second shot, the ball deflected off the goalie’s hands to Brantley Wigginton and the junior forward scored the first goal of the game to give Forest a 1-0 lead.

Following another good save from Smith, Forest forward Jaime Price found an opening down the right side and slammed in a goal from about 25 yards away to give Forest a 2-0 lead.

Buchholz answered the bell as Rousseau scored on a header after a free kick pass by Phillip Carcaba. Rousseau’s goal put the pressure on Forest and nearly cost them as Rousseau got free for another breakaway goal but was met by Smith at the midway point of the penalty area.

The ball went straight up into the air and the bounced off the crossbar before falling back into the net for what was initially called a goal to tie the game. After a short discussion by the officials, the call was overturned as the ball was deemed out of bounds once it hit the crossbar.

A couple possessions later, Forest took back control as Wigginton nailed a beautiful corner kick to Kaeden Baxter and Baxter would punch it in to give Forest a 3-1 lead with less than 10 minutes left in the game.

The final few minutes were back-and-forth possessions with no real threat for either team to score and Forest would hold on for a 3-1 victory.

The second half showing by Forest was a completely different team from the first half and assistant coach Shawn Hardy was candid about what he told the team at halftime.

“They just came out very lackadaisical and lazy. I told the leaders of the team that I’m not concerned about what has happened so far this season, it’s a one-game season from here on out and that’s a mindset we have to have,” Hardy said.

A big component for Forest’s dominance in the second half was the defensive play as they attacked the ball with more energy and communicated with each other.

“I think some of the guys took it personal. I was a defender, so I take defensive responsibilities personally, so I got on them at halftime and they came out and performed,” Hardy said.

Wigginton led the way on offense with a goal and an assist, the junior has a bright future ahead of him with college offers already and tonight he showed his best stuff against a quality opponent.

“Almost everyone in the county knows he is a talented player and every team we play is going to have his number in their books. He did his job tonight,” Hardy said.

For Buchholz, it was their first loss of the season and they have to regroup and play a tough Fleming Island team on Tuesday. Head coach Phillip Journey appreciated the level of play from both sides but knows his team could of done better.

“It was a great game, Forest played very well and hopefully we’ll learn from this game. This is a great loss because it takes that zero off your back and now we can move forward by knowing what mistakes we made and figuring out how to correct them,” Journey said.

Wigginton felt that this win will give the team some confidence that they can beat quality teams.

“Getting a decent result against them hopefully brings us up so we can go further into the season against better opponents and get more victories,” Wigginton said.

Hardy echoed the same sentiment and wants to see the same energy for the entire game when they match up with the The Villages Charter on Friday at 7 p.m.

“It’s a fantastic feeling, you got to love the out-of-county rivalry and nothing better than beating a team from Gainesville. Hopefully we can use this momentum to propel us into tomorrow, just taking it one game at a time,” Hardy said.