Fayetteville Academy soccer shoots for second straight title
The top-seeded Eagles will play Gaston Day for the 2-A championship.
Fayetteville Academy soccer coach Andrew McCarthy likes to preach the importance of creating — and finishing — chances.
“Obviously, what we always want to do in any game is create chances,” McCarthy said. “Hopefully, you’ll make one or two, but if you’re creating chances and following defensively, you’re always going to have a chance in games.”
But there are chances, and then there are chances.
On Saturday, the Eagles, the reigning NCISAA 2-A champions, will have a chance to claim their second straight state title.
The Academy (13-2), the top seed, will take on No. 2 Gaston Day (17-2) at 1 p.m. at Westchester Country Day.
As the No. 1 seed, the Eagles received a double-bye and began play against the O’Neal School in the quarterfinals.
The Falcons took the Eagles nearly to the wire. It was Julian Barbaro’s goal with about 17 seconds to play that pushed the Academy through to the semifinal without the need for overtime.
The Eagles’ semifinal was less of a pressure cooker. Academy scored early, and though Westchester Country Day pulled level after the half, the Eagles put away a couple of second-half goals to win at 3-1.
“Second half, we scored a couple of goals at just the right time,” coach Andrew McCarthy said. “We played well overall. I was pleased with them.”
The Eagles will take all the scoring they can get, but McCarthy said an early goal, especially in a big game, can help settle players.
“You’ll take a goal at any time, but an early goal I think calms the nerves a little bit,” McCarthy said.
Early won’t always come, but that’s the nature of the sport, McCarthy said.
“That’s just part of the game. You’ve got to deal with that. Sometimes you have to absolve a lot of the pressure and hold on, and then sometimes when you’re on top, you’ve got to score a goal when it counts,” the coach said. “You have to be patient. Hopefully, you’ll keep creating opportunities.”
That patience, as well as a commitment to the game plan, have helped the Eagles through some narrow margins.
“We’ve played some tough opposition really. A lot of the games we’ve played have been really close games in the conference and out of the conference,” McCarthy said. “It’s not so much about being patient. It’s about doing what we want to do in the games against particular opponents and sticking with it.”
Staff writer Jaclyn Shambaugh can be reached at jshambaugh@fayobserver.com or 910-609-0651.
The top-seeded Eagles will play Gaston Day for the 2-A championship.
Fayetteville Academy soccer coach Andrew McCarthy likes to preach the importance of creating — and finishing — chances.
“Obviously, what we always want to do in any game is create chances,” McCarthy said. “Hopefully, you’ll make one or two, but if you’re creating chances and following defensively, you’re always going to have a chance in games.”
But there are chances, and then there are chances.
On Saturday, the Eagles, the reigning NCISAA 2-A champions, will have a chance to claim their second straight state title.
The Academy (13-2), the top seed, will take on No. 2 Gaston Day (17-2) at 1 p.m. at Westchester Country Day.
As the No. 1 seed, the Eagles received a double-bye and began play against the O’Neal School in the quarterfinals.
The Falcons took the Eagles nearly to the wire. It was Julian Barbaro’s goal with about 17 seconds to play that pushed the Academy through to the semifinal without the need for overtime.
The Eagles’ semifinal was less of a pressure cooker. Academy scored early, and though Westchester Country Day pulled level after the half, the Eagles put away a couple of second-half goals to win at 3-1.
“Second half, we scored a couple of goals at just the right time,” coach Andrew McCarthy said. “We played well overall. I was pleased with them.”
The Eagles will take all the scoring they can get, but McCarthy said an early goal, especially in a big game, can help settle players.
“You’ll take a goal at any time, but an early goal I think calms the nerves a little bit,” McCarthy said.
Early won’t always come, but that’s the nature of the sport, McCarthy said.
“That’s just part of the game. You’ve got to deal with that. Sometimes you have to absolve a lot of the pressure and hold on, and then sometimes when you’re on top, you’ve got to score a goal when it counts,” the coach said. “You have to be patient. Hopefully, you’ll keep creating opportunities.”
That patience, as well as a commitment to the game plan, have helped the Eagles through some narrow margins.
“We’ve played some tough opposition really. A lot of the games we’ve played have been really close games in the conference and out of the conference,” McCarthy said. “It’s not so much about being patient. It’s about doing what we want to do in the games against particular opponents and sticking with it.”
Staff writer Jaclyn Shambaugh can be reached at jshambaugh@fayobserver.com or 910-609-0651.
