By Jon Johnson
On a night Dothan United recorded a shutout victory, defender and former Dothan High standout Ty Powell got the scoring going.
Powell scored on a header following a corner kick by Axel Amroise-Gravel around the 14-minute mark of the opening half and the Dragons would be on their way to a 3-0 exhibition win over Panama City Beach FC on Wednesday night at Rip Hewes Stadium.
It marked the first goal for Powell as a Dragon and came in the same stadium he performed in on the high school level. Powell has been a member of Dothan United all three years of its existence.
“We had the set play written down and the opportunity came up,” Powell began. “I saw the ball coming in and the next thing I know it’s in the back of the net and I’ve got my arm up (in celebration).
“I look up in the stands and I see my parents; I see my girlfriend … I mean, I can’t ask for anything more.”
All three goals came in the opening half. Rodrigo Lopes scored the second goal on a header, also getting an assist from Ambroise-Gravel, and Justin Nelson scored the final tally when the goalkeeper came out to challenge and Nelson got around him to shoot into an open net.
The friendly match proved plenty challenging for the Dragons.
Panama City Beach FC is a member of The League for Clubs and plays in the East Division of the Gulf Coast Conference. The team has a 5-2-1 record in the league and is in second place behind Tallahassee SC.
“This was probably the hardest game (against a friendly team) so far, so it was good to get a tough 90 minutes in the tank,” Powell said.
“I thought we played well, but we could do better. It’s good for us guys who don’t get a lot of minutes to get in there and battle it out.”
Three local products were in the starting lineup – Alec Palanjian (Northview High), Gabino Morin (Slocomb High) and Powell – and each one of them played the entire match.
Morin had two shots on goal – one early in the match that was knocked down and the other with about 10 minutes left in the match that hit off the crossbar.
“I should have scored, honestly, but I was just a little unlucky today, I guess,” Morin said.
But Morin was certainly thankful for the playing time. He even had his own cheering section in the stands from the Doug Tew Therapeutic Recreation Center. Morin works there and the group from the center sang the National Anthem before the game.
“I’m honored they came out today,” Morin said. “It was great. The atmosphere was great and I had a lot of support.”
Another player from the Wiregrass, Diego Sammur (Enterprise High), saw action in the second half.
Dothan United coach Ricky Davey was proud to see the local players making the most of their opportunities.
“These guys work so hard every single day, so for Ty to not only get the goal, but to play end–to-end the way he did was really good,” Davey said.
“It’s so good to see so many local products out on the field in the game, so credit to them. They earned the win. Obviously the goal for Ty was really nice. Gabino fantastic, Alec fantastic, Diego fantastic.”
Palanjian was named the Man of the Match by the coaching staff.
“We talk about it a lot … he’s just so reliable,” Davey said. “You can trust him to do anything. We played with wingbacks tonight, and I think that’s what he’s most suited to. He gets to do a little bit of both things (offense and defense).”
Dothan United was coming off a 1-1 tie at Columbus (Ga.) United last Saturday night in USL2 play.
The Dragons have a huge game coming up on the road Sunday in the USL2 Southern Conference when they travel to Austell, Ga., to take on the Swarm FC.
Dothan United has a 6-0-2 league record, good for 20 points, and is in first place in the South Central Division. The Swarm FC is in second place with a 5-0-4 mark with 19 points. The two teams played to a scoreless tie on June 3 at Rip Hewes Stadium.
Before hosting Dothan United, the Swarm FC has a road match on Friday against the Birmingham Legion, which ranks sixth in the seven-team division with a 1-4-2 record.
“We’ll think about Swarm tonight and tomorrow morning and prepare for that,” Davey said. “We’re in a really good place. They have been breathing down our neck … they’re a really good team.
“It’s a big one on Sunday and we’re looking forward to it.”
Dothan United will be without the regular starting goalkeeper, Yago Darub, for the second straight league match after he was suspended two games following a 4-1 win over East Atlanta FC on June 13.
Andre Etcheverry got his first start in goal on Wednesday night and played well to record the shutout. Darub’s brother, Victor, is also on the team now as a goalkeeper, as is Dothan product Blake Rouse.
“I think he made a really good save in the second half,” Davey said of Etcheverry. “I think it took a minute for him to feel comfortable, but I think you saw the confidence grow towards the end of the game.
“It’s nice to know we have a little depth there with Yago’s suspension. It’s nice to see if needed, he (Etcheverry) can do it. That was the big question tonight, ‘Can we trust him to do a good job in there?’ and he did that.”
The next home match for Dothan United will be Friday, July 3, beginning at 7 p.m. in an exhibition against Tallahassee SC.
