by Rusty Ellis
SPARTA – The DeKalb County Tigers earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over district foe White County on Friday night, as a Bryan Ramirez goal in the 58th minute proved to be the difference.
“I’ll be honest with you, we got lucky and kicked one in and they didn’t,” said DCHS head coach Dylan Kleparek. “We lost 10 seniors last year and we’re working hard to rebuild. We’ve got the talent, we’re just not together yet.”
Both teams put together multiple scoring chances in the first half, as Sparta’s best opportunity came on a loose ball in front of the net in the waning seconds of the half. A shot went just wide however, and the game went into the break in a scoreless tie.
Ramirez made a play on a loose ball just under halfway through the second half was the difference in the game, as he scored the lone goal in the 58th minute. DeKalb held Sparta off for the remainder of the contest to earn the gritty victory.
Kleparek says there’s plenty to build on for his squad, but for them to reach their potential, he says they’ve got to remain committed to both his system and the fundamentals.
“We had a lot of possession of the ball and we just weren’t there to finish the plays most of the time,” Kleparek said. “We’ve just got to keep working. It’s a crockpot thing, not a microwave thing so it’s going to take some time. We’ve just got to keep working hard and pushing through it. We really have to buy in, we’ve got a lot of guys who are really good at soccer. They just have to play as a team.”
Up next for DeKalb County will be the Smokey Mountain Cup beginning on April 5, while Sparta will take on Jackson County in Gainesboro on April 2.
