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Pinecrest vs Lumberton Thursday, April 9th, 2009 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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Pinecrest vs Lumberton Thursday, April 9th, 2009 John Williams Field, Southern Pines, NC |
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| Coming off a three-week romp through the first half of the conference schedule, the Pinecrest girls' soccer team welcomed a much-needed wake-up call. They answered the bell in Thursday's non-league match at home against Lumberton, rebounding from a sluggish start to defeat the Pirates 6-0. Leading the Patriots offensively were Bailey Pages with two goals and an assist, and Kate Hieronymus with a goal and two assists. The Patriots, now 9-3 overall and 7-0 in the Mid-Southeastern Conference, have an 11-day break before traveling to Scotland County on April 20. While the program's 12th consecutive conference title is still not a mathematical certainty, this is the time of year that Pinecrest focuses on getting honed and toughened up for the state playoffs. Upcoming home matches with Union Pines on April 24 and Hoggard on May 1 both appear to meet that objective. "We're looking forward to Union Pines," Patriot coach Todd Abbey says, "because we know of the intense rivalry. It's going to be an intense match-up and they're well-coached. They (players) are looking forward to Hoggard because they were disappointed in last year's result (3-1 loss). The Patriots outscored conference opponents 62-4 while winning their last seven matches. But goalkeeper Sarah Dejak knew the competition from Lumberton (9-4-1), the second- place team in the Two Rivers Conference, would be tougher. The sophomore was minding the net last season when the Pirates scored three goals in the first eight minutes of a match that ended in a 4-4 tie. In the fifth minute on Thursday, Dejak found herself one and one against the Pirates' Lauri Beth Coleman near the top of the penalty box. The Patriot keeper was in imminent peril when she secured the ball a split second before a shot could be taken. "There were a lot of break-aways last year so I was kind of prepared for that," Dejak said. "You can't be too prepared." The Patriots did most of their early attacking down the right side, with the danger coming from crosses and corner kicks by Pages. Nothing came of it until the 29th minute when Antonia Meyers received a pass at the top of the Pirate penalty circle and tapped the ball back to Hieronymus. The sophomore drilled a shot from about 25 yards away that hit the crossbar and caromed straight down. After an anxious pause, the linesman indicated the ball crossed the goal line. With 50 seconds remaining in the half, some hard work again on the right side by Pages culminated in a cross that Lauren Corrigan finished with her first touch, making it 2-0. A junior, Pages began the game defending before moving into the attack soon after. "Bailey is the type of player that can take people on one on one and make things happen on her own," Abbey said. "But, she also understands the team concept. She's really starting to step up." If the first half was so-so for Pinecrest, the second was much better. "The first half, I think we were really anxious," Pages said. "We really wanted to win the game. We just needed to settle down and play the Pinecrest ball we know how to play." With serious threats from the Pirates few and far between now, freshman Ally Parziale won a ball at mid-field in the 49th minute. With a flick of her foot, she started a transition attack that ended with a shot that Pages placed high in the net. The second and third goals within a period of 10 minutes came on assists by Hieronymus. First, the sophomore ripped a shot that bounced high off the far post on to the toe of Parziale for a one-touch score. In the 59th minute, she fed Pages for the goal that made it 5-0. Hieronymus was the center midfield generator of offense throughout for the Patriots. "We talked a little before the game with her and Ally on the fact that against some of the weaker teams they have the ability to hold the ball a little bit," Abbey said. "Both of them realized that in a physical game like this, they have to get the ball off their foot quickly. The first 10 minutes we weren't doing that. When they figured it out, they both did that. Kate's an amazing player for her age." Hieronymus said that her teammates made her playmaking role easy. "It's a lot faster getting the ball up-field by passing it," she said. "When my teammates are making their runs, I'll give it to them. And they were making the right runs." As the match was winding down, Antonia Meyers crossed a ball that her sister Mariotti put into the net to complete the scoring. The transplants from Maine by way of Germany have collaborated before. "When she came in," Antonia said, "I was thinking, we should get a goal together -- and then we got it." For Mariotta, it was a cameo appearance. "I didn't get to play a lot because I'm injured (hip)," she said. "I'm going to try to do nothing over spring break so I'll hopefully be ready for the Hoggard game." If Pinecrest makes it through the early rounds of the playoffs, Hoggard could very well be standing in the way. It was the Vikings that knocked the Patriots out of the postseason in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. "That's the kind of team now we're holding our standard to," Abbey said. "When you look at the brackets for the state playoffs, we have a chance to go very far and they're one of the teams that we're probably going to have to play through. "It's going to be a definite determinant of where we are now just like the game against East Chapel Hill at the beginning of the season. And I think the girls are really excited." <-Previous 4-6-09 vs Seventy-First (W, 10-0) 4-22-09 vs Richmond County (W, 10-0) Next-> |