Bristol’s Leon “Croc” Thorp (10) and Campbell’s Ty’Juan D’Altorio chase after the ball during Monday’s match at Campbell. Staff photo / Preston Byers
CAMPBELL — In a non-conference matchup between six-win teams, Campbell overcame a size disadvantage by utilizing its superior speed and craftiness to defeat Bristol 3-1 at home Monday.
The Red Devils pushed the pace from the opening kickoff, scoring three goals in the first half before holding off the much larger Panthers in the second.
“I told them to approach it like we’re playing basketball,” Campbell interim coach Benji Santiago said. “Some of the headers and stuff they’re going to be there. Just play the ball like that. They did well. … They’re athletes, so they ball hawk, they find the ball. But they are a lot bigger team, and they were physical. We matched their physicality today, which was great.”
After Campbell dominated possession in the first 10 minutes, Bristol got its first chance at a goal when the Panthers played it ahead to Jordy Holliday, whose shot was saved easily.
Moments later, the Devils were back on the attack, and Kenneth Addison put Campbell ahead with a low shot that went through Bristol goalkeeper’s Logan Briggs arms.
Six minutes after the first goal, the speedy Josue Lemus used his power to give Campbell a second goal. From more than 20 yards out, Lemus struck a ball hard with his right foot, which gave Briggs little chance to save the Panthers from going down 2-0.
“The kids came out on fire today,” Santiago said. “Bristol was tough, I got to give it to them. But our kids came out with a spark, and they put all they had in the first half.”
Each team could have scored, but it was Daveyon Cash who pushed Campbell’s lead to three goals a little more than three-quarters into the first half.
For Bristol, though, the missed opportunities stung a little bit more.
Within the last 150 seconds of the first half, Bristol had a handful of chances to score its first goal. A long-range shot by Gus Workman was a little too much to handle for Campbell’s goalkeeper as the ball bounced off of his hands and hit the crossbar before falling back into his hands.
Less than two minutes later, as a group of Bristol players crowded the box and had several last-second chances to pull back within two before halftime.
After a point-blank shot was deflected by a Campbell defender, another close-range shot collided and flew off of the crossbar and back to a Campbell defender just before the head official blew his whistle to signify the end of an eventful first half.
During the break, the message from Bristol head coach Cory Schrecengost was clear.
“Stay positive. Keep your heads up. Stay together as a team,” Schrecengost said of his halftime speech. “We’re not a bad team. We were 6-1 coming into this, so keep your heads up. Work together. Talk. Don’t get down on each other. … We just have to keep the intensity up and keep it together as a team.”
While the Devils slowed down their attack while defending the lead, the second half similarly featured several near misses for both teams.
Less than 11 minutes into the half, Wyatt Clisby’s shot rose and smacked the crossbar, the integrity of which was tested often Monday.
On the other end of the pitch eight minutes later, Addison, capitalizing on a miscommunication between two Bristol defenders, took the ball away and sprinted toward the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation. Addison’s shot around the keeper hit the left post and rebounded to Braylyn Walker, whose shot attempt went wide to the left of the goal.
Bristol’s Holliday managed to score about 76 minutes into Monday’s match, but the Panthers could not mount any late comeback in Campbell.
Bristol (6-2-0) will return to its Northeastern Athletic Conference schedule Wednesday with a road match at Mathews.
Campbell (7-1-2), which has not lost a match since Aug. 22, will visit Champion on Wednesday in a Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier matchup.