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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Davie’s varsity soccer team did not end its long CPC losing streak in the league opener in Kernersville, but the 2-0 loss to East Forsyth did offer hope.

There were much brighter moments than in the previous 15 meetings, when East outscored Davie 69-6.

“The East coach came over to me after and said that’s the best this team has looked since he’s been at East,” Davie coach Russ Fisher said. “That makes you feel good.”

Davie 2, ED 0

In the final nonconference game against visiting East Davidson on Sept. 9, the War Eagles picked up their fourth win, or three more than they had in 2023.

“I would say the positivity from the team is a lot better than the past from what I’ve heard from parents and the boys,” Fisher said after Davie improved to 4-3-2. “They are excited to be on the field and they’re having fun, which is something they didn’t have a lot of last year.”

Hunter Stephens opened the scoring with a penalty kick. Max Rappaport scored with an assist from Hamza Heikal to push Davie’s halftime lead to 2-0.

Davie didn’t need any more offense against an opponent that fell to 1-6.

Fisher’s player of the game was center back Zach Hill.

“Zach was really, really solid defensively,” he said. “He’s always there and he seems to always make a tackle and not foul.”

EF 2, Davie 0

In the aftermath of the CPC opener at East Forsyth on Sept. 11, Fisher and the War Eagles were thinking about what-ifs.

They gave a good account of themselves, especially when you consider they played without star Ethan Christie and with a less-than-100-percent Justin Rayas. (Christie was out with an injury and Rayas was coming off a bout with the flu.)

Both the East goals were PKs, one coming in the first half and the other with five minutes remaining. Fisher was not happy with either call.

“(The ref) gave them a PK (with five minutes left), and the guys were kind of deflated after that one,” Fisher said. “After all that hard work for the whole game. I didn’t understand it. I tried to get an explanation from the referee, but he wasn’t having any of it. It was one of those things where he was right and I was wrong, and there was no way he was going to talk to me about it.”

While those calls left a bitter taste, Davie gave an unbeaten opponent a run for its money.

“Ten minutes into the second half, it broke wide open for us and we were attacking for about 20-25 minutes, pretty much every time we came down the field,” Fisher said. “It was probably the best game the boys have played all year, and we played without Ethan, our national player.”

With Christie out, the next man up was Rafael Amaro, who did not disappoint.

“We switched the whole formation to help,” he said. “Rafael stepped in and played defensive mid and did really well.”

Goalie Felipe Flores (17 saves) and the back line of Karson Yount, Alex Torres, Hernan Granadero, Hill and Dylan Cassetta played their hearts out.

“Felipe played incredible,” Fisher said.

Although the War Eagles have dropped 17 straight in the CPC and 16 straight to East (7-0-1) since 2016, both streaks could have ended with a couple of breaks.

“Justin Rayas just came off the flu, so he was pretty winded the whole game,” Fisher said. “He didn’t really get to attack much. Playing without our best player and one of our other best players coming off the flu and we still … I look at it as a draw because two PKs doesn’t really prove anything. It just means you got fouled in the box.”