CCS loses to Hickory Christian 2-1 in NCISAA 1-A semifinals
By Jimmy Lewis
Staff Writer
GOLDSBORO — Hailey Dail, Eulysa Giddings, Caitlyn Beamon and Jordan London will have a graduation day free of conflict Saturday.
Just what these four Community Christian School varsity girls soccer seniors didn’t want in what will also go down as the final game in the colorful career of Lady Cyclones head coach Rhine Sharp.
Conflict would have involved a 1 p.m. duel for the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship before egressing back to CCS for graduation exercises at 7. But instead, a second half that bristled with potential on the attack concluded without a quality touch at the end. Thus, for the second time this season, the Lady Cyclones were unable to solve Hickory Christian in dropping a 2-1 decision in the NCISAA 1-A semifinals on the campus of Wayne Country Day.
CCS (15-3), the No. 2 seed among 12 qualifiers, had its season ended the way it began with a loss to Hickory Christian (13-7-1), which will make one half a lower-seeded final Saturday after No. 4 Statesville Christian eliminated top seed Sanford Grace Christian 2-0 in the first semifinal of the day. Coincidentally, the pregame featured an unexpected flyover from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base jets as the national anthem was being played.
“When we started playing to feet, we were really getting around them,” Sharp said. “But we just could not quite get that last touch on the ball to crank a good shot off,”
Mining for the equalizer that never came was necessitated by giving up a pair of goals in the first half, including one off a throw-in during the third minute. With CCS on the retreat and firmly on its heels, the throw entered the 18-yard box and settled at the feet of Hickory’s Marissa Clark. She had time to settle the ball and chip it over an approaching CCS keeper in Emily Boyette, putting the Lady Cyclones behind very early.
An season-opening 5-1 loss at CCS to this same Lady Knights side, had resurfaced in the biggest spot of the season. CCS had its deficit doubled in the 23rd minute off a set piece. Mattie Clark took the corner, allowing Laney Sigmon to take a touch and tuck it just inside the post. Danger loomed for the Lady Cyclones, who saw a direct kick from 20 yards from Dail sail high in the 11th minute.
“We did the same thing the very beginning of the season against them,” Sharp lamented. “We gave them two goals in two minutes in the first game. Golly day, we turned around and gave them two more goals in the first half! And luckily, Hailey was able to put that one in. So I really thought that the momentum had swung our way and that we were going to battle on back.”
Indeed, Dail gave the CCS partisans a jolt of life in the 35th minute after her head missed a lovely cross from junior Morgan Lane in the 25th. Dail’s shot from outside the box cleared traffic and dinged off the post, trickling past the goal line and cutting the deficit in half.
Sharp spent halftime convincing CCS it was the better side. With sustained pressure, one more goal, perhaps more, would surely come.
No opportunity was more precious in the second half than Dail getting another crack at a free kick from just outside the box. Following an initial bobble, a solid strike was saved and turned away by Hickory.
“The first half, we came out thinking we had already won,” Lane said. “We weren’t giving it our all. In the second half, it was more of a scramble to try and get a goal, especially in the last 15 minutes. We tried our best to get it in the back of the net, but nothing was going for us.
Giddings, who alternated between tape and a brace on her right knee throughout the match in the effort to play, shunned the brace while pushing forward late in the final minutes. She attempted to play the ball in Hickory’s half of the field while holding the brace in her hand, which was whistled down and possession given to the Lady Knights. CCS could not generate anything serious in the Hickory defensive third in the closing stages, and the final last-ditch effort at 30 seconds was thwarted when Boyette, a sophomore, stepped out of her box trying to quickly punt the ball downfield.
She was left to make one more save at close range as the final whistle sounded, ending a season and careers.
“Watching our seniors put their heads down and seeing them look defeated, I just wish we had won it for the seniors and for our coach, being his last year,” Lane said.
Sharp will give way to boys soccer coach Monica Mills next season.
“Thirty-six years is a long time to be out hollering and yelling at kids,” Sharp summarized. “I love it and love the kids. The game itself and the wins and the losses and all that stuff is fun and that’s what we’re competing for, but if my kids can get life lessons out of what we’re doing when we’re practicing, going to battle and traveling and learning how to dress and act proper and be ladies on the field....”
By Jimmy Lewis
Staff Writer
GOLDSBORO — Hailey Dail, Eulysa Giddings, Caitlyn Beamon and Jordan London will have a graduation day free of conflict Saturday.
Just what these four Community Christian School varsity girls soccer seniors didn’t want in what will also go down as the final game in the colorful career of Lady Cyclones head coach Rhine Sharp.
Conflict would have involved a 1 p.m. duel for the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship before egressing back to CCS for graduation exercises at 7. But instead, a second half that bristled with potential on the attack concluded without a quality touch at the end. Thus, for the second time this season, the Lady Cyclones were unable to solve Hickory Christian in dropping a 2-1 decision in the NCISAA 1-A semifinals on the campus of Wayne Country Day.
CCS (15-3), the No. 2 seed among 12 qualifiers, had its season ended the way it began with a loss to Hickory Christian (13-7-1), which will make one half a lower-seeded final Saturday after No. 4 Statesville Christian eliminated top seed Sanford Grace Christian 2-0 in the first semifinal of the day. Coincidentally, the pregame featured an unexpected flyover from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base jets as the national anthem was being played.
“When we started playing to feet, we were really getting around them,” Sharp said. “But we just could not quite get that last touch on the ball to crank a good shot off,”
Mining for the equalizer that never came was necessitated by giving up a pair of goals in the first half, including one off a throw-in during the third minute. With CCS on the retreat and firmly on its heels, the throw entered the 18-yard box and settled at the feet of Hickory’s Marissa Clark. She had time to settle the ball and chip it over an approaching CCS keeper in Emily Boyette, putting the Lady Cyclones behind very early.
An season-opening 5-1 loss at CCS to this same Lady Knights side, had resurfaced in the biggest spot of the season. CCS had its deficit doubled in the 23rd minute off a set piece. Mattie Clark took the corner, allowing Laney Sigmon to take a touch and tuck it just inside the post. Danger loomed for the Lady Cyclones, who saw a direct kick from 20 yards from Dail sail high in the 11th minute.
“We did the same thing the very beginning of the season against them,” Sharp lamented. “We gave them two goals in two minutes in the first game. Golly day, we turned around and gave them two more goals in the first half! And luckily, Hailey was able to put that one in. So I really thought that the momentum had swung our way and that we were going to battle on back.”
Indeed, Dail gave the CCS partisans a jolt of life in the 35th minute after her head missed a lovely cross from junior Morgan Lane in the 25th. Dail’s shot from outside the box cleared traffic and dinged off the post, trickling past the goal line and cutting the deficit in half.
Sharp spent halftime convincing CCS it was the better side. With sustained pressure, one more goal, perhaps more, would surely come.
No opportunity was more precious in the second half than Dail getting another crack at a free kick from just outside the box. Following an initial bobble, a solid strike was saved and turned away by Hickory.
“The first half, we came out thinking we had already won,” Lane said. “We weren’t giving it our all. In the second half, it was more of a scramble to try and get a goal, especially in the last 15 minutes. We tried our best to get it in the back of the net, but nothing was going for us.
Giddings, who alternated between tape and a brace on her right knee throughout the match in the effort to play, shunned the brace while pushing forward late in the final minutes. She attempted to play the ball in Hickory’s half of the field while holding the brace in her hand, which was whistled down and possession given to the Lady Knights. CCS could not generate anything serious in the Hickory defensive third in the closing stages, and the final last-ditch effort at 30 seconds was thwarted when Boyette, a sophomore, stepped out of her box trying to quickly punt the ball downfield.
She was left to make one more save at close range as the final whistle sounded, ending a season and careers.
“Watching our seniors put their heads down and seeing them look defeated, I just wish we had won it for the seniors and for our coach, being his last year,” Lane said.
Sharp will give way to boys soccer coach Monica Mills next season.
“Thirty-six years is a long time to be out hollering and yelling at kids,” Sharp summarized. “I love it and love the kids. The game itself and the wins and the losses and all that stuff is fun and that’s what we’re competing for, but if my kids can get life lessons out of what we’re doing when we’re practicing, going to battle and traveling and learning how to dress and act proper and be ladies on the field....”
