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Green Hope 3 @ Ashley 1 (4th Round - quarterfinals - of
NC State HS 4A Playoffs)
Green Hope advanced to the 4th round of the play-offs and had to
travel to Wilmington to play the other wildcard team, Ashley. Ashley
beat top ranked team New Hanover to advance to this round and was
on a hot streak coming into this fixture. Green Hope, not to be
outdone, won their first three play-off games by a combined score
of 7-0, keeping every game a shut-out.
The Falcons traveled to Wilmington in a chartered coach giving
them the opportunity to rest and enjoy the trip. The Falcons arrived
and had a great warm up. Coach Chadwick pointed out to the team
in the pre-game meeting that they have had great chances to score
in every game in the opening minutes, but failed to do so and challenged
the boys to get up early.
The Falcons won the toss and kicked off. They took the ball down
the left side, earned a throw-in, got in the box and a scramble
ensued with Nate Dixon finding the ball and launching it into the
net for a 1-0 lead, 19 seconds into the game. The Falcon kept up
the pressure and Patrick Danford, having a superb game, found Taylor
Estrada who beat his defender and played a clever chip over the
Ashley keeper to make it 2-0. Ashley earned a great chance as they
broke through, but the unheralded, but great defender, Ryan Dowd
caught the Ashley player from behind to knock the ball aside; a
game saving play! The half expired 2-0.
Again, the Falcons were up 2-0 at intermission, a nice lead, but
never comfortable. Green Hope came out with the same intensity in
the second half and played a ball toward the always-dangerous Evan
Paussa. Evan pressured the defender who intercepted the ball and
the defender decided to play it back to his keeper, but mis-hit
it into his own goal. 3-0 GH following the own goal.
Ashley, getting a little frustrated, losing 3-0 in the Play-offs
lost a little composure and received 2 straight red-cards and 5
yellow cards due to violent play. Fortunately, the Falcons stayed
out of the nonsense and kept their composure. Many of the starters
were subbed out to give them a rest and avoid cards. Ashley pushed
forward and won a scrum in the box to make it 3-1. They took a wonderful
free-kick that hit the cross bar, too. The Falcons moved into a
more conservative shape and finished out the game at 3-1
The shots were 7-5 in Green Hope’s favor. The Falcons (15-6-3)
advance to the State Semi-final against archrival Apex (22-0-1),
tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, November 16th at Apex at 7
PM.
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