Game 22 Pinecrest vs East Chapel Hill Friday, October 24th, 2008 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC
(17-2-3)	3		0	(10-9-1)
Goals: Nik Ceraso, Jack Talton, Thomas Goulden (PC) Assists: Thomas Goulden, Max Brenner, Eric Parziale (PC) Pinecrest           1    2  -  3 E. Chapel Hill    0    0  -  0
PATS TOP EAST CHAPEL HILL By Charlie Bergmann: Staff Writer, The Pilot, Appeared Sunday, October 26th, 2008

If Friday night's 3-0 victory over East Chapel Hill is any indication, the Pinecrest boys' soccer team is ready for the state playoffs.      Late goals by Jack Talton and Thomas Goulden broken open a close match against the visiting Wildcats as the Patriots completed the regular season with a record of 17-2-3. Nikolas Ceraso scored in the first half, and goalkeeper Matt Scott presided over the 11th Patriot shutout of the season.      West Johnston (6-12-2), the fifth seed from the Greater Neuse River Athletic Conference, provides the opposition in Wednesday's 7 p.m. home 4-A playoff opener.      "This gives us a lot of good motivation for the playoffs and some momentum," Scott said after recording seven saves in spite of a slick ball and the gusty winds that came with the rainy evening. "We'll take the good things from this and build on them."      The Wildcats, coached by former Pinecrest player Joe Burger, put heavy pressure on Scott and the Patriot defense for about the first 10 minutes of the match. Then the home team began swinging the ball around for probes from the left flank by Goulden.      In the 26th minute, Goulden crossed a ball into the Wildcat penalty box toward the well defended Ceraso. The ball fell to the ground in front of the Patriot midfielder and he blasted it into the net.      The Patriots maintained the 1-0 advantage until halftime, but barely. In the 35th minute, Scott knocked down a hard shot by the Cats' Travis Zyczkiewicz, and then grabbed the rebound while lying on his back.      With the intensified wind in their faces in the second half, the Patriots nevertheless enjoyed an advantage in the run of play. But they were unable to increase their advantage until the 73rd minute when Dalton got on the end of a ball served in front of the Wildcat goal by Max Brenner, making it 2-0.      "It was such a relief," Scott said of the breathing room the second goal allowed. "It's definitely tough to catch the ball in these kinds of conditions. But our defense really stepped up and didn't allow many hard shots on goal. It made my day a lot easier."      With about two minutes left to play, the slick ball caused a muff by the Wildcat goalkeeper on a long shot by Eric Parziale. Goulden pounced on it for the final goal of the evening.      Pinecrest coach Larry Martin and the Wildcats' Burger had the same thing in mind when the schedule was made before the season -- a tough match to get their teams' ready for the playoffs.      "That's exactly what we wanted," Martin said. "I thought it was a highly contested game. We got some breaks and I'm not sure the 3-0 score totally reflects the nature of the game.      "Getting a win puts a smile on your face and gets you ready for the playoffs."      East Chapel ended the regular season at 10-9-1. It faces a first-round match at J.H. Rose on Tuesday.      "They took advantage of their opportunities better than we did," said Burger, in his second year as the head coach of the Wildcats. "I'm excited about the prospect of winning a couple of games in the playoffs."      The Patriots are a first seed after finishing at 12-0 in the Mid-Southeastern Conference. This is the 14th year in a row they qualified for the postseason.      Parziale and the other veterans will be trying to improve on last year when Fuquay-Varina knocked them out in the first round.      "You have to take it one game at a time," the senior defender said. "We've got to take every thought out of our mind and focus on that. We can't look too far ahead like we did last year."      In the junior varsity match, goals by Dane Nelson and Gray Anderson in the final eight minutes gave the Pinecrest Green a 2-1 comeback victory over East Chapel Hill. Patriots Spoil Burger's Return      Friday night's boys' soccer game between Pinecrest and East Chapel Hill provided a special reunion for two coaches prepping their teams for next week's state 4-A playoff openers.      On the opposite side of the field from Patriot coach Larry Martin was one of his former players, Joe Burger, head coach of the Wildcats.      "I'm going to tell you, Joe Burger was one of the best players who ever played here," Martin said. "He was very athletic and very skilled. I'd like to turn back the clock and put him out here right now."      Burger's prolific scoring ability would have been more useful to his current squad on a wet and windy night that saw the Patriots prevail 3-0 at the John Williams Athletic Complex.      In his senior year (2002), he scored 28 goals and recorded 18 assists as the Patriots finished 18-3-2, advancing to the third round of the playoffs. He earned all-region honors and made the all-conference team for the second time.      A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Burger is in his second year as the head coach at East Chapel Hill. The Wildcats finished this regular season at 10-9-1 after going 13-8-3 in 2007. He came to Pinecrest in 2006 as an assistant coach for a strange match the Patriots won 5-3, scoring all of their goals on penalty kicks.      "I'd love to beat Coach Martin," he said before Friday's contest. "But, it's just another game to get ready for the ultimate goal -- winning some games in the playoffs. The weather is probably going to take away from some of the atmosphere we look forward to when we come here, but we get to play a good team."      As the fourth seed from the PAC 6 Conference, East Chapel Hill plays a first-round match on Tuesday against a J.H. Rose squad it beat 3-1 in an early-season encounter.      Playoff games at Pinecrest provide Burger with some of his most vivid memories as a player.      "That was a great one," he said when reminded of the overtime penalty kick shootout victory against Jacksonville in the second round of the 2002 playoffs. "But one of the games I remember best was actually not for a good reason. When we lost 3-2 to Southeast Raleigh in the first round the year before, I think I hit the post a couple of times and missed a penalty kick."      Also on the visitors' side were his parents, Mark and Sandy Burger of Pinehurst. Mark is a history teacher and coaches the golf team at North Moore. In addition to the playoffs, Senior Night provided one of his best memories of the close knit 2002 squad. Sandy Burger said that it's almost as much fun watching him coach as it was watching him play.      "We don't want to say we're the curse," Mark said, "but they don't have very good luck when we show up."      Friday night's contest was up for grabs until Pinecrest extended a 1-0 advantage with two goals in the final seven minutes of the match.      "They capitalized on their chances," the Wildcat coach said. "You have to be opportunistic."      One of the things the young coach took away from his playing days at Pinecrest was the tough mentality Martin put in the heads of his players, and the way he got them up for every game.      "I try to instill that in my guys, but it doesn't happen all the time," Burger said. "I also try to be disciplined in the things I do on and off the field. Larry Martin is a great guy, and I'm glad I was a part of the program here."      Among the former Patriot teammates Burger stays in touch with are Brad Shinn, Doug Andrews, James Franklin and Matt Capasso. Capasso, who earned all-state honors in 2002, is one of his teammates on a Triangle Adult Soccer League squad.      Martin was impressed with the way the Wildcats played and expects them to advance in the playoffs on Tuesday.      "It was really nice to be able to walk over before the game, have a really warm conversation and enjoy the relationship," he said. "After the game, it was the same thing. I told Joe his guys played well, that it was a competitive match."                - Charlie Bergman Season:   Goals Scored: 81     Goals Allowed: 20     Overall Record: 17-2-3    Conference Record: 12-0-0 <-Previous 10-22-08 at Seventy-First (W, 6-2)             10-29-08 vs West Johnston (First Round, State Tourn. W, 3-1) Next->