Green Hope hosted long-time rival Apex for the second match of the year. The first game at Apex was one of the strangest soccer games one can witness. One team had 17 shots while the other had 0. The team with 0 shots won the game- Apex, on an unfortunate own goal was the deciding factor.

That game has bothered the Falcons since it happened and they were chomping at the bit to get on the field Wednesday night at home to avenge that loss. Green Hope started out strong and created several decent chances. Martin Murphy eluded his defender and played a nice pass into Stephen Clowes who buried it in the back left corner of the net for the 1-0 lead. Then, Edu Rodriguez took advantage of his playing time and astutely noticed the Apex goalkeeper off his line. Edu hit a rocket shot from 40 yards and put it just past the keeper's hands for the 2-0 lead.

The half ended 2-0 and during the halftime team talk, the Falcons talked about the worst lead in soccer is 2-0. They needed to keep doing what they were doing and keep on the attack. The Falcons did so and created some more chances. One chance was a great combination between Murphy, Ryan Steele and Logan Paussa which ended up with a cross to an unmarked Clowes, but his shot was thwarted by the keeper.  Apex got a good shot off that Alex Long had to stretch and dive to parry over the bar. Great save by the Falcon net minder.

Green Hope seemed in command, but could not get that comfortable 3-0 lead. Murphy had some good chances down the left side, but either shot directly at the keeper or missed the target near post.  With 6 minutes to go, Apex got a corner kick, they served it in the 6-yard box and Green Hope cleared it to the top of the penalty box. An Apex player controlled it and did a quick deke to get an opening to shoot and he buried the ball in the back right corner to make it 1-2. Not less than a minute later, Apex got a free-kick 40 yards from goal, they served the ball into the penalty area and easily flicked it past Green Hope to tie it at 2-2. The Falcons and their fans were in disbelief. The momentum had changed and although Green Hope had the game in command for 74 minutes, they lapsed for the last 6. Apex had a great chance to break Green Hope's heart as they got the ball on the left side and hit another rocket toward the Green Hope goal. The ball slammed off the inside of the post and went across the goal. Everyone in the GH stands held their breath to see if the ricochet would go in the other side of the net, but fortunately, it rolled wide.

The teams headed to overtime. Green Hope got on the board early as a nice cross was sent to Justin Smith at the top of the box, he prepared the ball and buried it in the upper left 90 of the goal for the 3-2 lead. Then Nader Jaibat got made it 4-2 and Justin Taylor made it 5-2 with an unselfish play by Jaibat. Green Hope won 5-2.

The local derby is always tough. Apex's resilience was to be admired as was Green Hope's fortitude to never quit and steal back the momentum in overtime.

The Tri8 conference is a mess at the top of the standings. Panther Creek is in command with an 8-1-1 lead. They play Apex Monday. Apex is 7-2-1 as is Green Hope. Green Hope must work to improve every game and get on a role for the NCHSAA play-offs. The top five teams advance to the play-offs in the Tri8 and the higher your finish in your conference means less travel.

Go Falcons!