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Pinecrest vs #7 Hoggard Friday, October 15th, 2004 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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Pinecrest vs #7 Hoggard Friday, October 15th, 2004 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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| When the Pinecrest and Wilmington Hoggard boys' soccer teams return to action this week, conference titles and first seeds in the state playoffs will be on the line for both. That backdrop might account for how two of the region's best 4-A teams were able to put on a quality exhibition of soccer at John Williams Field Friday night without excess emotions getting in the way. In the fifth meeting of the teams since 2000, the seventh-ranked in the state Vikings scored goals in the 15th and 79th minutes in handing the Patriots a 2-0 loss, while squaring the series at 2-2-1. Patriot coach Larry Martin called it a great night of soccer witnessed by one of the season's best crowds. "It was nice to see high quality soccer going in both directions," he said. "It was a clean game with a good attitude on the part of the kids. I hated to come out on the short end of it, but you have to congratulate them. We hope we meet them again." That could happen sooner or later, depending on the results of this week's conference games for both teams. The Patriots, 8-1-1 in the Mid-Southeastern Conference, will move into first place if they can beat Jack Britt, 9-1, on Monday night at home. The top spot in the Mideastern Conference will be at stake when Hoggard meets New Hanover. Conference titles would mean first-round byes and potentially several rounds of home games for both teams in the state playoffs that begin on Nov. 3. Twice in the first 10 minutes Friday night, crosses by the Patriots' Travis Grasso just missed their mark in the Viking penalty box. Then in the 15th minute, the Vikings Greg Schimizzi took possession of the ball after a Patriot giveaway. A few touches later, he drilled a low shot from about 35 yards out on the right that eluded goalkeeper Travis Frazier as it snuck inside the near post. The Patriots were unable to counter with even a shot until Russell Stewart struck one wide off a Marco Gironda drop in the 36th minute. That sparked an offensive initiative by the home team. Twice in the last two minutes of the half, Grasso broke into the left side of the Viking penalty area only to have one shot knocked away by the goalkeeper and the other, off a pass from Karl Ainslie, go wide. A muff by the Viking goalkeeper in the 70th minute and a cross by Grasso a few minutes later that rolled tantalizingly across the goal mouth, without a touch by either side, provided the Patriots with their best chances to knot things up. The visitors put only three shots on the frame in the match as the Patriots ended up with a 14 to eight edge in shots overall. The third one also came off a Patriot turnover. The Vikings' Cameron Knell converted it into a breakaway opportunity and a 2-0 lead in the closing minute. "Honestly, if I'm evaluating the game and giving style points," Martin said, "I thought we won. Unfortunatley, you don't win on style points. If we meet again, maybe we can put on another show and maybe it will turn our way." Wilmington coach John Teller is a regular visitor to the area as the coach of the Viking boys' and girls' squads. There was a lot more at stake on his last two trips. A year ago, the Patriot boys defeated the Vikings 2-1 in a third-round state playoff game. Last May, his team defeated the Patriot girls, also in the third round, and knocked them from the ranks of the undefeated. "It was a good game, absolutely," he said of the latest meeting. "Larry (Martin) and Pinecrest are normally in the mix every year. As the matchups go, sooner or later, we could be seeing each other again." The Patriots dropped to 11-3-2 overall with the loss. Hoggard is 11-3-3 overall and 6-0-1 in the Mideastern Conference. Monday night's conference showdown against Jack Britt begins at 7 p.m. preceded by a junior varsity contest at 5:30 p.m. The Buccaneers were 2-1 winners in the first meeting of the teams. In Friday night's junior varsity match won by Hoggard (17-1) 3-0, the Patriots (12-1) suffered their first loss of the season. <-Previous 10-13-04 at Hoke County (W, 9-0) 10-18-04 vs. Jack Britt (W, 1-0) Next-> |