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#8 Pinecrest vs Panther Creek Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC 2OT |
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#8 Pinecrest vs Panther Creek Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC 2OT |
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| Halfway through the first overtime period, Pinecrest's Claire Epling raced with the ball down the right flank at the John Williams Athletic Complex. Run down by a Panther Creek defender near the end line, the freshman won a corner kick. Morgan Maples served the ball into the penalty box where amidst congestion teammate Caitlin McArdle found it and put it in the net. The home side made the 2-1 lead stand up, punching its ticket for the second round of the state 4-A soccer playoffs. The eighth-ranked Patriots (19-1-1) will meet No. 11 Enloe (16-5) in another home match at 7 p.m. on Saturday. McArdle, one of the team's tallest players, is a defender, but moves forward to take advantage of her height and aggressiveness on corner kicks. "I was really just in the right place at the right time," the West Point-bound senior said. "The ball came in there and I think it bounced off the keeper and a couple of defenders. It landed right in front of me and I knocked it in." Early on, the freshmen- and sophomore-loaded squad from the second-year high school in Cary consistently beat the Patriots to the punch -- nearly scoring a goal in the first 30 seconds of the match. In the 28th minute, the Catamounts jumped on a Pinecrest turnover in its defensive third, and converted it into a goal by Katelyn Reeve. "We obviously started the game on our heels and shaky," Pinecrest coach Larry Martin said. "We were watching, hesitating and not committing. Then we started to scrap and, frankly, I think that turned the game." Awakened by the goal, the Patriots suddenly became the more dangerous team. Latanya Cain sent a ball across the goal mouth that was just too high for Epling to reach at the far post. Moments later, Cain carried the ball for about 30 yards through traffic before sending a shot wide from inside the penalty area. "We always start off a little slow and then pick it up toward the second half," said Patriot midfielder Amber Fernandez, one of the architects of the comeback. "We have speed up top too, so we can challenge their defense." In the second minute after the intermission, Cain intercepted a risky pass from a Catamount defender back to the goalkeeper, but her shot was wide. On the next Patriot possession, Cain deftly lofted a shot from about 19 yards away over the goalkeeper for her 51st goal of the season, tying the match at 1-1. Leading up to the decisive goal by McArdle, the action was end-to-end. Freshman goalkeeper Sarah Dejak, and the Patriot backline of McArdle, Sarah White, Bailey Pages and Rebecca Dupre survived some anxious moments. But they helped keep the visitors scoreless for the final 72 minutes of regulation and overtime. Dejak was busy throughout, snagging Catamount crosses and racing out to the edge of the penalty box to collect through balls. One of her most difficult saves was a grab of a long, twisting shot by the Cats' Gabrielle Michel that came in the second minute of the final overtime period. "I've been pretty excited about this since about last Wednesday," Dejak said. "I was still pretty nervous coming into it, but I had faith in my teammates. I knew we could get the job done as long as we played our game." Martin enjoyed being a part of an up-and-down the field soccer game, and thought his players did too. "Their girls (Cats) were pushing hard up top, and they had speed and skill," the Patriot coach said. "We had a lot of times where we had to fix situations. There were some scary times, but I felt like the girls kept their composure for the most part." The loss dropped Panther Creek to 11-7-2. Coach Todd Schuler's squad went 8-6 in the tough Tri-7, starting six or seven freshmen most of the time. "I thought it was a well-played game by both teams," Schuler said. "It's playoff time. It's emotional, it's physical, and the refs let both teams play. I was really excited that we got up early, but Pinecrest battled back and deserved the win." Enloe of Raleigh, the third seed from the Cap 7 conference, advanced by defeating Garner 4-0. Four of the Eagles five losses were within the conference to second-ranked Leesville Road and No. 4 Broughton. <-Previous 5-1-08 vs Westover (W, 15-0) 5-10-08 vs Enloe (Second Round, State Tourn. L, 1-2) Next-> |