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Pinecrest vs #11 East Chapel Hill Friday, September 8th, 2006 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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Pinecrest vs #11 East Chapel Hill Friday, September 8th, 2006 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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| The John Williams Athletic Complex was rocking Friday night as the Pinecrest boys' soccer team came from behind to pull out a wild 5-3 victory over the visiting East Chapel Hill side. The game featured five goals from the penalty spot, and aggressive physical play was the order of the night as eight yellow cards were also handed out. East Chapel Hill came into the nonconference game ranked 11th in state 4-A soccer. Late last season, coach Larry Martin's Patriots had pinned a loss on the Wildcats. Pinecrest improved to 4-1-0 on the season with conference play set to start Monday night at home versus Scotland County. The Pinecrest 12th man, the enthusiastic crowd that showed up in support of the home team, lending the game the feel of an English Premier League match by blasting out new and updated songs and cheers. Drums and cowbells only added to the atmosphere. Pinecrest responded to the crowd by storming out in the first half with a strong 40 minutes of soccer. Pressing the attack the Patriots scored twice only to have one called back for an infraction. At the 15-minute mark Russell Stewart swung a free kick from the far side to the goal mouth that was headed into goal by Coby Kavanaugh, but a foul was called on the play. Three minutes later the Patriots would not be denied. Jordon Howlett picked the East Chapel Hill defense of the ball, and settled a shot into the net to put the Patriots up 1-0. Pinecrest had three additional quality chances in the first half, including Matt Sessoms breaking free in front of the goal. Later, Jordon Howlett led Brandon Zoellner with a through ball, but the shot missed its mark. Defensively, Pinecrest was solid, highlighted by Russell Stewart sweeping one ball off the goal line from an ECH corner kick. East Chapel Hill would score at the 30-minute mark from the penalty stripe when Patriot keeper Glenn Holmes came charging out to clear a through ball and collided hard with the Wildcat striker. The Wildcat player was carried from the field and would not return, while the referee ruled foul on the play. East Chapel Hill would convert the kick, creating a 1-all halftime score. The second half would prove to be a wild 40 minutes of soccer. Play went up and down the field at a frantic pace only slowed by the frequent rules infractions and subsequent penalty kicks. The Patriots had several opportunities to score, but failed to convert. At the 58-minute mark the Pinecrest defense was whistled for a foul in the penalty box. Again the Wildcats would bury the penalty shot to move in front 2-1. Two minutes later, Thomas Goulden was pulled down in the box, with Stewart again stepping to the line to find the back of the net for his second goal, giving Pinecrest a 4-3 advantage with only five minutes remaining. The Wildcats threw bodies forward, earning two free kicks from 20 yards out, but could not get the ball through the Patriots wall of defenders. With two minutes to play, the Patriots got a transitional goal with Karl Anslie breaking out from deep in his own side to find Coby Kavanaugh in stride, who would beat a defender and slipped the ball to Zoellner. He would finish the play with his second goal of the night. The Pinecrest junior varsity team also won, defeating East Chapel Hill by a score of 3-0. The Patriot goal scorers were Max Brenner, Aaron Stroker and John Kropp. Matt Scott and Dana Parziale combined in goal for the shutout. <-Previous 9-6-06 vs Hoggard (W, 1-0) 9-11-06 vs Scotland County (W, 4-0) Next-> |