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Pinecrest vs Scotland County Monday, September 9th, 2002 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC 2OT |
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Pinecrest vs Scotland County Monday, September 9th, 2002 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC 2OT |
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| There was no mystery about the strategy Scotland County would employ against Pinecrest in Monday’s Mid-Southeastern Conference soccer opener for both teams. The underdog Scots retreated quickly on defense and looked for transition opportunities on offense. They did both well enough to escape with a 1-1 overtime tie in spite of a 28-7 shot advantage by the Patriots. The non-win in conference play was the first in 22 games for Pinecrest (3-2-2) dating back to a 1-0 loss to Lumberton in October of 2000, the last year of the Southeastern Conference. The Patriots were 17-0 in conference matches a year ago. The tie on the road was particularly sweet for the Scots (2-2-1) who lost 10-0 on their last trip to Pinecrest. “I think we made a big step defensively and now we need to take a lesson from them,” said Scot coach Colin McDavid referring to Pinecrest. “We have to build a possession game instead of just depending on that long ball to the feet up front. We can do better than that.” The Patriot goal followed penetration into the Scot penalty area by junior Stephen Lacher in the 10th minute. Senior Brad Shinn’s first shot attempt was blocked, but he beat goalkeeper Daniel Pruitte to the rebound and lifted it over him for the 1-0 lead. In the 25th minute, a long outlet throw by the Scot goalkeeper triggered the kind of transition opportunity the Scots seek. Adrian Allbrooks took possession just past midfield and worked his way deep into the Patriot penalty area to the right of the goal before centering the ball to Ian Melville. When the senior made his move to the goal, he was sandwiched by Matt Capasso and David Jannone and all three players hit the turf. The Scots were awarded a penalty kick and senior Phillip Moses converted it for the tie. Pinecrest possessed the ball for most of the remaining 55 minutes of regulation and the two 10-minute overtime periods. The Scot plan was to concentrate the defense in the middle of the field. “I can show you on my clipboard, the big word was ‘concentration,’” McDavid said. “We had to concentrate on the middle. The only thing I was going to give them was the width. That was dangerous too, but I’d rather give them the width than the middle.” The Patriots took what they were given, attacking down the sides for much of the second half and overtimes. Scott Martin headed a cross from Gabe Bruno wide of the goal in the 45th minute. Jannone headed a Joe Burger cross over the goal in the 63rd. A Bruno header off a cross by Jonathan Gribben in the 88th minute became Pruitte’s 12th and final save of the match. Pruitte, who plays on a classic team coached by McDavid with a number of the Pinecrest players, nipped other opportunities in the bud with good anticipation coming off his line. Pinecrest coach Larry Martin knew from experience that the Scots were capable of a big effort against his team. “It just proves that Scotland has good players and is capable of doing the things they need to do to stick with a team like ours — particularly when we don’t take advantage of our opportunities. “Sometimes I felt we didn’t play as unselfishly as we might have. There were times one more pass might have gotten us a better quality finish.” The Pinecrest junior varsity improved to 4-1 with a 6-1 victory over the Scots. Scott Phifer, Jordan Hansley and Travis Grasso each scored twice. Tonight the Patriots play another conference match at Richmond County with the junior varsity contest beginning at 5:30 p.m. <-Previous 9-3-02 at Lumberton (W, 5-2) 9-11-02 at Richmond County (W, 5-1) Next-> |