 |
Pinecrest at Richmond County Wednesday, September 15th, 2004 Raider Stadium, Rockingham, NC 2OT |
 |
||||
|
(1-0-1) |
2
|
2 |
(1-0-1) |
|||
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
Pinecrest at Richmond County Wednesday, September 15th, 2004 Raider Stadium, Rockingham, NC 2OT |
|
||||
|
(1-0-1) |
2
|
2 |
(1-0-1) |
|||
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
| From the standpoint of the two coaches, Wednesday’s 2-2 overtime soccer match between Pinecrest and Richmond County was classic glass half-full, half-empty stuff. Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, Travis Grasso put the visiting Patriots ahead in the third minute of the first 10-minute overtime only to have Raider freshman Chris Larsen retie it on an improbable play four minutes later. The result left the two teams tied at 1-0-1 in the Mid-Southeastern Conference. For the Patriots, now 3-1-2 overall, it was the first non-winning match in league play since a 1-1 tie with Scotland County in September of 2002. It extended their unbeaten streak in league play to 51 games. On a night that the Patriots took 34 shots to just five for their opponent, Bennie Howard, coach of the 4-1-1 overall Raiders, was the one with the glass half-full. “Sometimes a tie is like a kissing your sister thing,” he told his team in the center of the field at the end of the scoreless second overtime period. “But this time the sister is looking pretty good.” At the outset, the Patriots got on the board quickly — maybe too quickly. In the fourth minute, defender Casey Wylie played a long ball that forward Tommy Ransdell brought under control just above the Raider penalty circle in the shadow of goalkeeper Cory Tedder. He quickly shed Tedder with a move to the right and deposited the ball into the wide-open net. But just two minutes later, a defensive mix-up in the Patriot end led to a penalty kick being awarded to the Raiders. Paco Lopez converted making it 1-1. With Wylie and fellow defender, Andy Tagliareni, playing a lot of the vertical balls, and Grasso and Joe Johnson providing much of the service from the wings, the Patriots kept the home team defending most of the night. The next best first-half chance for the Pats came in the 37th minute when Jordan Hansley worked his way into the Raider penalty area only to have Tedder deny him at the near post with a diving save. The Patriots gave the home team more of the same after the intermission. In the 67th minute they came close again when a header by Marco Gironda, off a Johnson cross, went wide. After a second half in which the Raiders made few penetrations into the Patriot third, it was not surprising that Howard thought Grasso’s overtime goal might be decisive. “I was satisfied with the 1-1 and then they score the goal,” he said. “I’m thinking here we go again. We haven’t beaten Pinecrest in six years. Then we get the lucky break and the 40-yard rebound goes in the back of the net.” On the go-ahead goal, Grasso broke into the left side of the penalty area near the end line and unloaded a shot that deflected back to him. He finished the rebound. Four minutes later, Larsen, attacking in transition down the right side, let loose with a shot that was blocked by a Patriot defender at close range. Goalkeeper Travis Frazier watched helplessly about 10 yards off his line as the wacky rebound sailed high into the net. In the last two minutes of the second overtime each team came close to breaking the deadlock. A shot by Greg Pattis from five yards away got by Tedder and hit the crossbar before being cleared. Patriot defender Caleb Miles turned away a Raider attacker inside the penalty area in the final seconds. Afterwards Patriot coach Larry Martin said that he thinks he and his team learned a lesson. “I consider this a loss,” he said. “I would never want a loss, but sometimes a loss can be used for the good. I think the best lesson I learned tonight, and the kids learned it, is that we are not going to take another conference opponent lightly. Richmond went out there and played with heart and things went their way.” The tough loss, make that a tie, had Martin itching to get his team back into action tonight at home against Terry Sanford, bad weather or not. The Bulldogs of the Two Rivers Conference are 4-1-1. A junior varsity contest is scheduled for 5 p.m. followed by the varsity at 7. “Terry Sanford is a quality team,” Martin said. “It’s a great test for us. We’re going to have a hurricane party at the stadium — Ivan or no Ivan.” The Patriot junior varsity improved to 6-0 with a 4-0 victory over the Raiders. <-Previous 9-13-04 vs. Scotland County (W, 4-0) 9-20-04 vs. Hoke County (W, 4-0) Next-> |