 |
Pinecrest vs Richmond County Monday, October 11th, 2004 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
 |
||||
|
(7-1-1) |
2
|
0 |
(7-1-1) |
|||
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
Pinecrest vs Richmond County Monday, October 11th, 2004 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
|
||||
|
(7-1-1) |
2
|
0 |
(7-1-1) |
|||
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
| After almost 70 minutes of soccer at John Williams Field Monday night, it appeared it was going to take perfect execution for Pinecrest to break the scoreless deadlock with first-place Richmond County. Twice within a period of three minutes, the Patriots got just that with Karl Ainslie and Tommy Ransdell providing the finishes in the 2-0 victory. Crosses from opposite sides of the field by J.R. Horton set up both goals. The win leaves three teams bunched up at the top of the Mid-Southeastern Conference standings. Jack Britt, a 5-0 winner over Seventy-First on Monday, is in first place with a league mark of 8-1, followed by Pinecrest and Richmond at 7-1-1. The Patriots and the Raiders both have a game remaining against the Buccaneers. As in an early season 2-2 overtime tie at Richmond County, it was the Patriots doing most of the attacking in a first half that saw them take 12 shots to one for the visitors. “It was a little frustrating,” said Patriot coach Larry Martin,” because I thought we were dominating the game, but we weren’t putting anything in the net. I tried to convey to the kids at halftime that there’s a lot of time left. Keep your heads about you, concentrate on the job at hand and things will work out. “I kept thinking we’re going to get some ugly goals. We ended up getting pretty goals.” In a strictly defensive mode in the first half, the Raiders got just adventurous enough after the intermission to open up more space for the home team. Instead of building up with short passes as they did throughout most of the first half, the Patriots started looking for and finding transition opportunities. “They pressed hard,” said Patriot sweeper Michael White of the Raiders, ”but they weren’t covering wide. I knew it was just a matter of time before we scored.” Center midfielder Caleb Miles was getting touches on almost every Patriot possession. Travis Grasso, Joe Johnson and Horton provided service from the wings. In the 69th minute, Horton sent a long ball into the Raider penalty box from the left. With a swipe of his foot, Ransdell slid it to the other side to Ainslie. Called up from the junior varsity before the game, the sophomore cut back to the middle before sending a shot back the other way into the net past Raider goalkeeper Cory Tedder, making it 1-0. Moments later, right back Chris Coxen just missed connecting with Ransdell on a hard cross from the right. But in the 73rd minute, Horton served one into the Raider box from the right and Ransdell headed it high into the net for the clincher. “We got settled in there at the end,” said Horton, a creator of scoring opportunities for the Patriots throughout the match. “A good ball is nothing without a good finish.” Because of injury, illness and other matters, only 16 of the 21 players that started the season on the Patriot varsity were dressed for the game. Starting defender Casey Wylie wasn’t feeling well and played limited minutes. Freshman Jordan Howlett was called up from the jayvee squad several games ago and started at stopper. Besides Ainslie, Russell Stewart and Charlie Davis were also called up from the jayvee team and saw action. “We had to go a little deeper into the rotation,” Martin said. “I’ve contended all year long we’ve got a lot of kids that can play pretty evenly. Everybody that went in there played a part in the victory. It was fun bringing the young men onto the team.” The Patriots, now 10-2-2 overall, finished with 25 shots to three for the Raiders. Freshman goalkeeper Travis Frazier gets credit for the team’s fourth shutout victory in a row and eighth of the season. The Raiders are now 10-2-1 overall. Because the teams tied in their first meeting, conference rules would have required that Monday’s match be decided by overtime periods and penalty kicks, if necessary. Now with a leg up on Richmond in the head-to-head meetings, the Patriots can gain their eighth straight conference title by winning their last five league games. At home next Monday, they will try to avenge a 2-1 loss at Jack Britt three weeks ago. Tonight, the Patriots travel to Hoke County for a 7 p.m. contest (junior varsity at 5:30 p.m.). Friday they are scheduled to entertain Wilmington Hoggard in a non-conference match. The Patriot jayvee team moved to 11-0 with a 7-0 victory over the Raiders. The goal scorers were Matt Sessoms (three), Win Pratt, Brandon Zoellner, Chase Blake and Bradley McKeever. Contributing assists were Tyler Dawson (three), Pratt (two) and Victor Bellow. Glen Holmes was the Patriot goalkeeper. <-Previous 10-6-04 at Scotland County (W, 5-0) 10-13-04 at Hoke County (W, 9-0) Next-> |