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#14 Pinecrest vs West Johnston Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC 2OT |
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| "Never a doubt," a Pinecrest supporter quipped to a relieved coach Larry Martin a few minutes after Wednesday's first round boy's state soccer playoff match was over. A better way of putting it might have been, "Pinecrest survived to play another day." The Patriots (18-2-3) trailed most of the way before defeating upset-minded West Johnston (6-13-2) 3-1 on goals by Max Brenner and Ryan Osterman in the second overtime period. Pine Forest (15-6) will provide the opposition in Saturday's 7 p.m. second-round contest, also at home. The third seed from the Two Rivers Conference advanced with a 1-0 victory over New Bern. The Patriots came into the match determined not to give up an early goal as it did last year when Fuquay-Varina beat them 1-0 in the first round. But, five minutes in, a wide open Tyler Hill headed home a cross from Felipe Cuevas, putting the Wildcats in front. Near the end of a half that produced few serious scoring opportunities for the home side, the Cats' Avery Andrews beat the Patriots down the field in transition twice for chances at an open net. "I guess it was just sloppiness," midfielder Thomas Goulden said of his team's first-half performance against the fifth seed from the Greater Neuse River Conference. "I don't think we came out as hard as we should have. But we worked hard and came back." A powerful shot from 40 yards away by Eric Parziale sailed over the Wildcat goal in the second minute after the intermission. But it signaled the Patriots now meant business. The visitors' goal would be under siege most of the rest of the way. "The first half, I think we did what we wanted to do," West Johnston coach Ken Sweat said. "They did a better job in the second half of staying composed and not rushing out of the back. And they started playing some balls on the ground in the middle. They just made some great adjustments." through the second half, Goulden crossed a ball into the Wildcat penalty box from the left side. The ball was deflected back to Tyler Herbst who volleyed it into the net from about 15 yards away, tying the score, 1-all. In a wild closing 30 seconds of regulation, Goulden took three corner kicks. Teammate Taylor Miles made solid contact with one of them, but his shot was parried over the bar by goalkeeper Austin Tucker. two teams were only nine minutes from having to decide the issue by penalty kicks when the Patriots twice beat the Cat defense to loose balls in the penalty box. On the first, Brenner was surrounded by defenders and the goalkeeper, when he finished a ball served in by Jack Talton. With just over two minutes remaining, Osterman scored on the rebound off another shot by Brenner. The Patriots narrowly avoided being another of a number of first round upset victims in the East bracket, a fact not lost on the Patriot players or their coach. "As a second-half team, we've been able to score late in the game." Brenner said. "Now that we're facing tougher competition, we've got to bring it the whole game. We've got to make our mark as soon as we step on the field." That was Martin's message to his players after the game. He wants them to be a first-half team too. "I don't know what to do," he said. "The guys were warmed up and ready to play. It's a curious thing." In the end, he felt his team's depth made the difference. "We played a lot of players and we played at a high tempo," he said. "Ultimately we wore them down and that's why we won the game." The Patriots took 14 of their 20 shots in the second half and overtime. The Wildcats were held to eight overall. None of their three shots after the halftime intermission were on goal. The only save by goalkeeper Matt Scott came in the first half. One of Saturday's interesting second round matches has Richmond Senior, an overtime upset winner over Hoggard, entertaining an East Chapel Hill squad coached by former Patriot player Joe Burger. The Patriots defeated East Chapel Hill 3-0 last Friday. <-Previous 10-24-08 vs East Chapel Hill (W, 3-0) 11-1-08 vs Pine Forest (Second Round, State Tourn. W, 1-0) Next-> |
