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Pinecrest vs Richmond County Monday, September 17th, 2007 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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(3-0-0) |
4
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2 |
(2-1-0) |
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Pinecrest vs Richmond County Monday, September 17th, 2007 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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(3-0-0) |
4
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2 |
(2-1-0) |
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| The Pinecrest boys' soccer team defeated conference rival Richmond County 4-2 in a hard-fought contest at the John Williams Athletic Complex Monday. Pinecrest's season record improving to 3-0 in Mid-Southeastern Conference play and 6-2 overall. The back-and-forth battle saw the Richmond Raiders score first, Pinecrest answered with four straight goals to put the game away, while the visitors posted a late goal for the final score line. "We really need to learn not to concede that first goal," said Pinecrest coach Larry Martin, "but again, I give our guys credit for not getting down and continuing to play our game until the goals came." The first 20 minutes produced great goal-scoring opportunities, but both net minders were equal to the task. The Richmond keeper twice turned away sophomore Aaron Stroker, who had sprinted clear of the Raider defense. The Raider breakthrough came via a corner kick. The ball was not thoroughly cleared away, and chipped back into the net area where it was smartly volleyed over the head of senior keeper Brad McKeever for a 1-0 Richmond lead. The Patriots would respond in the 30th minute, a quick restart forcing the Raider defense to foul senior Tyler Dawson at the top of the penalty area. From 20 yards away, senior Coby Kavanaugh would find an opening in the left side of the Raider wall and thread the free kick into the back of the net, leveling the score. A strong hustle play as the first half ended resulted in the second Pinecrest goal. With the Patriots pressuring to the final seconds, junior Matt Carriker would force a turnover and find Dawson in stride up the middle of the field. Two touches later, and his low shot into the left corner put Pinecrest up 2-1 with eight seconds left on the clock. As the second half began, the Patriots forced a mistake on the part of the Raider defense, and Dawson was awarded a penalty shot after being tripped in the penalty area. Kavanaugh drilled the resulting penalty kick through the diving Richmond keeper's gloves for the 3-1 advantage at 48 minutes. The Raider fate would be sealed in the 59th minute, as junior John Kropp received the ball in space on the right wing, aimed a pinpoint pass to Max Brenner running to his left who would finish for the 4-1 lead. McKeever would have a busy night turning away Raider efforts. The last Richmond score came from a penalty kick with two minutes left. "Richmond and Hoke are going to be the toughest conference matches we face," Martin said. "We're winning, but we still need to make some better decisions." Pinecrest takes the short trip to Raeford tonight to face the Hoke County Bucks. The junior varsity starts play at 5:30 p.m., with the varsity contest following at 7 p.m. Also Monday, the Pinecrest's junior varsity defeated Richmond's jayvees 3-1, Patriots scoring where Jack Talton, Ryan Osterman and Ethan Kavanaugh. Dana Parziale and Michael Guarente split the net-minding task for the Pinecrest jayvees. <-Previous 9-14-07 vs #2 Apex (PPD) 9-19-07 at Hoke County (W, 2-1) Next-> |