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Pinecrest vs South View Tuesday, August 12th, 2003 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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Pinecrest vs South View Tuesday, August 12th, 2003 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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| The Pinecrest boys’ soccer team passed the first test of a challenging non-conference schedule with a 2-0 season-opening victory over South View Tuesday evening. Patriot midfielder Neil Perez broke a scoreless tie with a penalty kick in the third minute of the second half. Eight minutes later, David Jannone flicked home a cross from Dustin Burns to provide the home team with some breathing room. Following an evenly played first half, the Pinecrest squad that includes 14 seniors, turned up the throttle offensively against the young Tigers — stepping out of its traditional character as a ball control team. “A lot of times we try to hold down playing boom ball, just kicking it to whoever,” Patriot coach Larry Martin said. “But before the second half, I told the guys in the back, Erik (sweeper, Hayworth) in particular, to launch the ball every now and then. They were coming up so tight on us, I thought we could counterattack those guys. That created a lot of opportunities for us.” The first conversion of those chances came in the 43rd minute. Perez controlled a short throw-in from Gabe Bruno on the right side and turned into the penalty area. He broke loose for a moment and was taken down from the side earning a penalty kick. He blasted the ball high into the net past Tiger goalkeeper Casey Fields. Later, with the transition game in high gear, Burns laid a hard cross on the head of Jannone who placed it just out of the reach of Fields inside the right post. In the first half, it was more often the visitors that played the aggressive attacking balls, creating some anxious moments for the Patriot defense and goalkeeper John Shute. The main threat for the home team came from Bruno, who was able to beat the Tiger defenders repeatedly down the right side. His shot in the ninth minute struck the top post, and late in the period he headed a long cross from defender Michael White over the goal. He was credited with five of his team’s six shots in the half. “We were jittery in the first half, which is normal,” Perez said. “It was our first game, and we really weren’t into a rhythm. In the second half, we settled down and started knocking the ball around and playing better.” Throughout the latter part of the match, the Patriots kept the Tigers occupied defensively with their attacking mindset. The only save of the night by Shute came from a shot by Josh Boemeke with three minutes to play. Overall, the Patriots took 15 shots to five for the visitors. Perez was asked if he thinks having 14 seniors offers the opportunity to accomplish more because of how long many of them have played together. ”We’ve already been talking about that,” he said. “We have to have the will to do it. We have the personnel, now we have to have the will.” Pinecrest is off until Friday, Aug. 23, when it continues an opening series of three games against Two Rivers Conference schools when it travels to Terry Sanford. 8-22-03 at Terry Sanford (T, 1-1) Next>> |