Thirty-five minutes of hard work had yielded nothing for the Faith Christian School boys soccer team.

Heat-seeking shots veered just off, well-timed through balls were tapped with just a bit too much leg, and the Patriots were dominating Village Christian Academy on Monday afternoon but had nothing to show. It was a surprising start for a team that’s blazed offensively the last nine games its played. Until losing to New Bern Epiphany School on Friday, the Patriots were riding an eight-game winning streak, and they had scored more than three goals in seven of them. 

The goals poured in for Faith Christian (11-2-1, 6-1 CIC Conference)  as it marched to a 4-0 win on Monday, and coach Tyler Hendricks couldn’t have been happier with the showing.

“We had the shots — they were there,” Hendricks said. “If they keep working like that, making those passes and runs like they’ve been doing, then the goals will come like they did today.”

After a first half of the Patriots peppering the Village Christian defense, Faith Christian’s Grey Clark dumped the ball to Jonathan Stallings near the left corner of the penalty area. Stallings took it, pushed inside and made his way to the right goal post before shooting across his body and nailing a shot in the bottom left. 

Three minutes later, Connor Capps passed to an open Landon Silveri. From about 25 yards and left of center, Silveri bent a shot into the top right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead

Silveri and Stallings each added another goal late in the second half, both again the culmination of constant offensive pressure and good pace. 

While those two shined on Monday, Hendricks said his team, which features 11 seniors, has no stars.

“If you look at the stats, our goals are pretty evenly across the board,” Hendricks said. “There is not one that stands out.

“They have all stepped up. . . My 11 seniors, them playing together since they were in eighth grade, working a system that they’ve finally got down pat now is really beneficial.”

Sure, the 3-2 Friday loss to Epiphany shut down the Patriots’ streak, Hendricks said. But the loss may have been what the team needed.

“The winning streak had its advantages and disadvantages,” Hendricks said. “The guys were hyped, and they wanted to keep the streak going. But the disadvantage was that they could become lax in their playing.

“That loss ended up turning to our advantage, to help us practice harder and play harder like we did tonight.”

While most of Faith Christian’s games have been like this one, where it kept the ball on their offensive third for most of the night, Hendricks said the defense remains engaged throughout. He said he tries to allow his defensive players to come up and be part of the offense. It allows guys like Jacob Pridgen, who was a stout defensive stopper against Village Christian’s few streaks toward the goal, to stay active.

Faith Christian has two conference games left, both against Rocky Mount Academy. The Patriots host the Eagles on Friday, and they travel to RMA on Oct. 13. Once finished, Hendricks said the team hopes it can play deep into the postseason.

“Our goal this year was to make it to the state playoffs,” Hendricks said. “We have never made it in the 2-A classification, and we’ve been in that classification for five or six years now. 

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