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Pinecrest vs Terry Sanford Tuesday, August 27th, 2002 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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Pinecrest vs Terry Sanford Tuesday, August 27th, 2002 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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| A couple of first-half defensive lapses proved insurmountable as Pinecrest dropped a 2-1 decision to Terry Sanford Tuesday night in boys’ soccer. James Craven scored for the visiting Bulldogs in the ninth and 26th minutes. Joe Burger got one back in the 76th minute for the Patriots and barely missed on a tying attempt as the clock wound down. Pinecrest (1-2-1) out shot the Two Rivers Conference squad, now 6-1, 16 to 8. But the Bulldogs had just as many quality scoring opportunities. Craven, a freshman, was a seventh grader on the Fayetteville Academy team that defeated Pinecrest 3-1 two years ago in the Fayetteville Academy Soccer Tournament. On the first goal, teammate Ramsey Wehbe forced a turnover just to the left of the Pinecrest penalty area. Craven ran to space at the top of the penalty area and quickly received a pass from Wehbe. He had only Patriot goalkeeper Rashad Gatling between him and the net and tucked the ball in the left corner. Seventeen minutes later, he found himself with the ball in about the same spot and beat the lone defender — and then the goalkeeper making it 2-0. Following an early second-half turnover by the Patriots, he again found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat, but missed the open left side of the goal. “James reads the game really well,” Bulldog coach Jeff Costa said. “He plays well off Chris Nolan who is a very good midfielder. Defenses usually go to him. James is able to find the holes and scores a lot of goals running through unmarked.” Pinecrest attacked the Terry Sanford third of the field throughout the match with a barrage of crosses and long balls into the penalty area. The Bulldog defense finally broke down when Burger first-timed a rainbow cross from right-back Doug Andrews into the net. With about 20 seconds left, Jonathan Gribben crossed a ball from the left that Burger poked a foot or two wide of the goal on a sliding attempt. “We were really worried about the wet turf and balls skipping in, so we were trying to play everything early,” Costa said. “They had a couple of close ones and we had a couple of breakaways their keeper saved.” Trey Howell recorded four saves for the Bulldogs whose only loss was to New Hanover. Gatling had two saves and second-half keeper Jonathan Shute had one for the Patriots. “In a game where I certainly thought we had more time on the ball, it was frustrating for us not to execute on our opportunities,” Pinecrest coach Larry Martin said. The junior varsity improved to 2-1 with a 2-1 victory over the Bulldogs. Last night’s game against South View was switched to a home game. Tuesday, the Patriots travel to Lumberton. <-Previous 8-19-02 at Cary (L, 0-2) 8-29-02 vs. South View (W, 3-1) Next-> |