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Pinecrest vs Western Guilford Friday, May 5th, 2006 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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Pinecrest vs Western Guilford Friday, May 5th, 2006 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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| Two soccer coaches, whose teams breezed through their conference schedules undefeated, sent their players onto the field at Pinecrest Friday night, eager to be tested. Western Guilford, the fourth-ranked 3-A girls' team in the state, defeated the 4-A Patriots 4-0, putting a damper on Senior Night for the home team. The visitors broke open a close match with three second-half goals. Both teams get byes as first seeds in the opening round of the state playoffs that begin next week. Pinecrest was 14-0 in the Mid-Southeastern Conference while Western Guilford was 12-0, and un-scored upon, in the Triad Conference. Hornets' coach George Kennedy was looking forward to the challenge all season. "I know Pinecrest has a great home record and a great conference record," he said after the match. "I knew it was an emotional day. It's nice to see both teams battle this hard for no reason at all - except the competition. All in all, I think we rose to the occasion." The first 10 minutes of the match was all Hornets. Latanya Cain, the main offensive weapon for the Patriots, didn't get her first touch in the home half of the field until the 11th minute. "They were out-hustling us," Pinecrest coach Lorna Martin said. "That's what hurt us more than anything." The Patriots survived the early onslaught that included a number of near-misses by the visitors from long-range. In the 25th minute, Ann Fields, one of five Patriot seniors honored before the match, knocked a wicked shot from the left side that glanced off the far post to Brittney Dishner, who one-touched the rebound over the goal. Finally in the 31st minute, another one of the long Hornet probes from the left side by Clarie O'Keefe found the net over goalkeeper Katelyn Burwell. "We noticed their goalkeeper was off her line," Kennedy said, "so we went over the top." Cain penetrated the Hornet penalty area several times before the end of the half, but came up empty. Overall, Kennedy's squad was successful in shutting her down. "If you over-commit, she's going to change direction on you," he said. "Some of the girls knew her, but it was also helpful to get reports on her ahead of time. We were aware of her ability." Dangerous on her corner kicks throughout the match, the Hornets' Kayleigh Bouchillon dropped one near the far post in the 49th minute that was finished by Nethery English, making it 2-0. English connected again in the 65th minute with a shot that ricocheted off a Patriot defender. A swerving kick off the foot of Emily Hobbs from the left side in the 75th minute completed the scoring. Burwell, who had a number of spectacular saves, Dishner, Jenny Rocque and Sarah Patnode were the other Pinecrest seniors playing their final regular season game. During their four years, the Patriots were 56-0 in conference matches. All have plans to attend college. Burwell is signed to play goalkeeper at Lenoir-Rhyne. The other college choices are Ann Fields, Duke; Dishner, UNC-Wilmington; Rocque, U.S. Military Academy; and Patnode, N.C. State. "It was definitely pretty emotional," Dishner said. "It was hard last year too with all the seniors. We have the state playoffs and everything, so I'm looking toward that." The loss dropped Pinecrest to 18-4-1 overall, while Western Guilford remains unbeaten at 19-0-2. The visitors won the jayvee contest 3-0. After its first-round bye, Pinecrest is expected play the winner of Wednesday's match between a wild-card team and South View, the third seed from the Two Rivers Conference, on Friday or Saturday. An intersted spectator at Friday's match was Union Pines coach Chris Hadlock. If his team defeats a wild-card opponent at home on Wednesday, it will travel to Western Guilford for a second-round match on Friday. <-Previous 5-3-06 at Douglas Byrd (W, 14-0) 5-13-06 vs Northern Durham (Second Round, State Tourn. W 4-1) Next-> |