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Pinecrest at Jack Britt Wednesday, September 22nd, 2004 Jack Britt Stadium, Fayetteville, NC |
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(2-1-1) |
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(4-0-0) |
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Pinecrest at Jack Britt Wednesday, September 22nd, 2004 Jack Britt Stadium, Fayetteville, NC |
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(2-1-1) |
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(4-0-0) |
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| Pinecrest got slapped with a 2-1 loss by Mid-Southeastern Conference foe Jack Britt Wednesday, ending a string of 52 conference matches without a loss. Despite preseason predictions that Britt might be the team to beat in this season’s conference race, no one foresaw the bizarre turn of events that would determine the outcome of Wednesday’s contest in Fayetteville. Both teams battled hard in the first period, but neither could gain a toehold, leaving the match in a scoreless deadlock at the intermission. Britt fired on the Patriots at the 13-minute mark with Timm Ballard’s shot off the left side from 15 yards out, but Pinecrest goalkeeper Travis Frazier broke up the attempt. Britt continued to attack with Marcel Taylor putting a pink boot on the ball at the top of the arc a few minutes later with a shot that sailed high, then Alex Habermel followed with a low shot off the right side that skidded wide. Pinecrest snatched the momentum midway through the period when Travis Grasso lined a bullet off the 18 that tracked left of the goal. A Patriot offensive flurry threatened but fell short as the half loomed. Scott Phifer’s breakaway down the middle turned the key on the race to the break. Phifer took a body check a few minutes later, setting up a kick for Pinecrest that fell short of the goal, but produced a corner kick opportunity in the scramble. The corner kick was deflected out of bounds by Britt, allowing Pinecrest another chance with a throw-in to Phifer for another deflected shot that took a Patriot bounce, setting up a second corner kick that fell short. Pinecrest came out of the gate hard as the second period got under way, but was stunned 10 minutes into the period with a call that set the tone for the rest of the match. No one was surprised at the whistle that sounded after a Jack Britt forward collided with Pinecrest’s keeper following a Buccaneer shot of the right side. Frazier held his position, gathered in the ball and absorbed the blow to make the save. The bomb hit when Frazier drew the foul and a yellow card on the play, rewarding the Buccaneers with a penalty kick. That gift came with a bonus for Britt, as Frazier was forced to leave the field, creating a sudden substitution that put a cold keeper on the line in a pressure situation. Habermel, at the mark for Britt, put the point on the board past Marshal McIntosh with the Patriots still looking for an explanation for the strange call. Pinecrest bounced back with an honest goal when Travis Grasso hooked a hard cross from the left corner to Marco Gironda in front of the Britt goal for the equalizer with 10 minutes left to play. Britt got the break once again with a bobbled ball that broke the plane of the goal for a 2-1 edge that would stand for the win. Pinecrest coach Larry Martin shared his assessment of the match from the sidelines. “You come into a game with the expectation that your keeper’s going to get a certain measure of protection,” he said. “I’m not sure that happened tonight.” The Patriots get another crack at the Buccaneers on friendlier turf when Britt comes to town on Oct. 18. For now the Pats will swallow the bitter pill of a close conference loss and prepare for Monday’s home match against conference opponent Westover. The loss leaves Pinecrest at 2-1-1 in league play and 4-2-2 overall, while Britt improved to 4-0 and 8-1-1. Junior Varsity Action The Pinecrest jayvees buried the junior Bucs 8-1 in the preliminary match. Karl Ainslie and Tyler Dawson scored a pair each in the win. Russell Stewart, Bradley McKeever, Coby Kavanaugh and Brandon Zoellner got in the books with goals to round out the total. Charlie Davis, Matt Sessoms, McKeever and Stewart (two) recorded assists. The Pinecrest jayvees remain undefeated at 8-0. <-Previous 9-20-04 vs. Hoke County (W, 4-0) 9-29-04 vs. Seventy-First (W, 13-0) Next-> |