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Green Hope 1 at Apex 4
Green Hope traveled to Apex for the second game of their conference
battle with the Cougars. A lot was on the line in this game. A win
for either team would mean a good chance at winning the Tri-8 conference.
Green Hope came out and was dominating the first 25 minutes. They
had several strong chances notching 5 shots to Apex's 0. The Falcons
were passing well, moving off the ball and were highly motivated. At
one point, Martin Murphy beat the left back and came down on the
Apex keeper 1 on 1, but his shot was wide left.
Apex did a super job withstanding the barrage and they started
to play better. The Cougars served a ball into the box from the
right side of the midfield and it ended up at an unmarked Apex player
who put it in the back of the net. 0-1 Apex. The Falcons kicked
off and played the ball back to their center back, who took a misstep
and lost the ball, Apex collected the ball and scored again within
15 seconds of their first goal. Apex 2-0. The half ended and the
Falcons were a little stunned. They had played so well for the first
25 minutes, but a couple of lapses had cost them two goals. The
team calmed down and felt good about the game overall. They knew
they had dug their own hole and were willing to climb out of it.
In the second half, the Falcons surprisingly came out a little
flat. Apex won a corner and served it in the box. Green Hope did
a great job of winning the header but the clearance fell to the
top of the 18 yard box and Apex took a shot that deflected into
the goal. 3-0 Apex. Again, Green Hope kicked off and another misplay
a few minutes later led to an Apex goal 4-0. The Falcons were in
shock. However, the boys never gave up.
Down 0-4, playing away and the prospects not looking good, the
Falcons kept trying and showed great pride and resilience. With
10 minutes to go, Thomas Lindsey knocked in a goal from about 20 yards away
to make it 1-4. A short time later, Taylor Estrada nearly made it a 2-4
game as he ripped a shot off the right post.
The game ended 4-1 in Apex's favor. Apex played a super game and
on this night was the better team. It was unfortunate for the Falcons
as they did not play their best and gave away a couple of soft goals.
However, it also made the team realize that they must take advantage
of the chances they create. In the first 25 minutes the team should
have gone up 1, if not 2-0, but they did not capitalize. This game should be a great
learning experience for the rest of the season and play-offs. Apex
is surely going to finish at the top of the Tri-8 conference and
Green Hope plays 4 more conference games to try to finish second.
The Falcons welcome another cross-town rival, Cary to Falcon Stadium
on Monday, October 16th. The Falcons record stands at 11-4-1 and
7-2-1 in conference.
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