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Pinecrest vs Richmond County Monday, April 18th, 2005 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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(8-0-0) |
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(5-3-1) |
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Pinecrest vs Richmond County Monday, April 18th, 2005 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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(8-0-0) |
1
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0 |
(5-3-1) |
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| Very few people watching Monday night’s girls’ soccer game between Pinecrest and Richmond County could have guessed that a first-half goal by LaTanya Cain would be the only score of the night. The goal by the freshman in the 24th minute held up for a 1-0 Patriot victory. It moved the home team to 8-0 in the Mid-Southeastern Conference and 11-1-2 overall for the season. The outcome also left Raiders’ coach Benny Howard considerably more satisfied with the performance of his team than Patriot coach Lorna Martin. His squad (5-3-1, 10-3-1) was beaten 6-0 at home by the Patriots in the first meeting between the schools last month. “I was proud of our effort and our willingness to play 80 minutes of soccer against a very good team that here in the next few days will probably break into the top 10 in the state,” he said. “Any time you can hold them to one goal it’s a great effort on our part. I hate that we came up one goal short, but it will look good in the papers tomorrow.” The Patriots kept the Raider defenders and goalkeeper Kayla Fletcher occupied right from the start. But, for the most part, the final passes and shots by the Patriots lacked the zip necessary to capitalize on the numerous opportunities. Cain, who leads the team with 18 goals, entered the contest for the first time in the 22nd minute and made her presence felt almost immediately. Two minutes later, she received a pass from Stephanie Carter about 30 yards from the goal. She then beat a couple of Raider defenders before slipping the ball past Fletcher and into the net. Fletcher, who finished with 17 saves, kept her team in the match over the next 10 minutes as Cain, Carter and Lauren Broderick led the assault on the Raider goal. In the 32nd minute, Fletcher denied Cain after another one-on-one penetration — then knocked away a header by Broderick off the rebound before grabbing the ball on another follow shot by Carter. The Patriots mustered very few serious challenges against the Raider goalkeeper after that. In the 51st minute, a slick feed from Ann Fields caught Molly Lynch in stride, but the sophomore forward’s shot from about 15 yards away soared over the goal. The Pats’ Stacey Blanchard put one in the net in the final minute on a direct kick from about 25 yards away, but it was whistled off by a questionable offsides call. Anchoring a Pinecrest defense that did not allow a penetration into its own penalty area until Brittney Teeters took a shot that was wide in the 68th minute was sweeper Marissa Dotson. The sophomore was taking the place of 2004 all-conference and all-region defender Lora Smith for the third game in a row. Martin said that Smith, a senior, could have played but decided to hold her out one more game because of concerns about a knee that was operated on last year. “She was kind of nervous at first after taking over for someone like Lora,” Martin said of Dotson, who operated smoothly and efficiently. “It was good for her to be successful at it. Somebody’s going to have to take over for Lora next year.” Dotson and her fellow defenders spent much of the night watching the Patriots operate less than efficiently in the Raider defensive zone. “I think everybody came in thinking it would be a blowout,” she said. “But we still won, so that’s the good part about it.” The Pinecrest junior varsity improved to 10-0-2 with a 7-0 victory over the Raiders. Morgan Maples led the winners with a hat trick. Other goal scorers for the squad of coach John Buchholz were Christina Conslavo (two), Cally Blue and Courtney Broderick. Contributing assists were Tricia Westmorland (two), Consalvo, Katie Jeffries and Broderick. Both Patriot squads travel to Raeford today to play much-improved Hoke County beginning with the jayvee contest at 5:30 p.m. <-Previous 4-15-05 at Jack Britt (W, 3-0) 4-20-05 at Hoke County (W, 7-0) Next-> |