Polk County’s boys soccer team took a very good first step in Wednesday’s season opener.

Then quickly learned the importance of a solid followup.

Smoky Mountain scored four second-half goals, handing the Wolverines a 5-1 setback in a non-conference match at Polk County.

The Mustangs (1-1) got two goals from Eli Costa in pulling away over the final 40 minutes in a game that began some 20 minutes late due to inclement weather. That delay didn’t stop Polk County (0-1) from hanging with the Mustangs for the first half, an effort that head coach Lennox Charles hopes won’t be forgotten.

“We had one good half,” Charles said. “Maybe (Thursday) night, we can put together three-quarters of a game. Hopefully, by next week, we can put a full game together.

“I think our fitness caught up with us a little bit in the second half. We shuffled some people in, to try to get everyone in there, and we lost a little bit of the rhythm we had. Both of those made a difference.”

Smoky Mountain tallied early in the first half before Polk County responded with slightly more than nine minutes left in the period. Fighting through a crowd in the penalty area, Isaias Akers headed a Carson Marshall pass off the crossbar and into the net, evening the score at 1-1.

It remained that way until Costa led a second-half surge that Polk County struggled to control.

“We knew that we would be behind as far as game situations,” Charles said. “We need to build now on that first half. All the little things that we didn’t do, we need to try to do.

“We had a lot of mental mistakes. I’m sure there were some nerves and some figuring out what’s going and trying to adjust to each other and getting on the same page.”

Polk County travels Thursday to face Shelby in a non-conference match.

– by polksports.com