Fayetteville Academy reaches NCISAA state championship
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Correspondent FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Senior Marcos da Paz said sometimes it takes a little while for the Fayetteville Academy soccer team to build intensity. But once it happens, there’s little the opposition can do to contain it.
Visiting Westchester Country Day learned that lesson Tuesday at the Fayetteville Academy field as da Paz scored the first three Eagle goals en route to a 4-0 win in the semifinals of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 2-A soccer playoffs.
Fayetteville Academy, the top-seeded team in the tournament, improves to 17-1-1 and advances to Saturday’s state championship match, which ironically will be played at Westchester’s home field in High Point.
The Eagles will face a familiar opponent, Coastal Christian, which defeated Asheville Christian 3-0 in Tuesday’s other semifinal match.
Fayetteville Academy has already beaten Coastal twice this year by scores of 5-2 and 3-0. Coastal brings a 16-7-1 record into the noon match.
The game between the Academy and Westchester was scoreless until the final three minutes of the first half.
Fayetteville Academy had dominated much of the offensive play in the first half but had been unable to score against Westchester.
That ended when Hudson Zeisman found da Paz with a pass and the latter drove the ball into the right corner of the net.
“Hudson got the ball and I saw the cross coming,’’ da Paz said. “I could barely see it because there was a light in front of the ball, but God helped me and I got a goal.
“When you score a goal at the end of the half, it gives a team confidence and intensity. We were fired up in the second half.’’
“It was a great finish,’’ said Fayetteville Academy coach Andrew McCarthy said of the first goal by da Paz.
“I thought Westchester was excellent and well-organized,’’ McCarthy said. “If we go in at nil-nil it’s a different game. We score that one and it gives us a bit of a boost going into the second half.’’
McCarthy felt da Paz didn’t have good movement early in the game and spoke to him about it. “Second half his movement improved and the opportunities started to come because of that,’’ McCarthy said.
The Academy took a 2-0 lead early in the second half on da Paz’s second goal.
McCarthy felt it was a boost for the Eagles to widen the lead early in the half. “They had to come out and chase a little bit more and a few more gaps opened up,’’ he said.
Although Fayetteville Academy has beaten its finals opponent Coastal by a combined scored of 8-2 this season, McCarthy is anything but overconfident about the rematch. “They weren’t comfortable games,’’ he said. “They were a lot closer than the margin said. We’ve got to be ready to roll. They are very well-organized. We’ve got a lot of preparation to do for that game.’’
McCarthy said the Eagles are in good shape injurywise and will take the rest of this week to recover from Tuesday’s game and put together a game plan for Coastal.
According to da Paz, the Eagles will approach Saturday’s game as if they’ve never faced Coastal. “We’re going to be ready,’’ he said. “Coastal is a great team. We’ve got to be together all the time. A team that stays together wins together.’’
The Eagles will be seeking their first boys’ state soccer title since winning the championship in 2013. Coastal is returning to the title match for a second year in a row.
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Correspondent FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Senior Marcos da Paz said sometimes it takes a little while for the Fayetteville Academy soccer team to build intensity. But once it happens, there’s little the opposition can do to contain it.
Visiting Westchester Country Day learned that lesson Tuesday at the Fayetteville Academy field as da Paz scored the first three Eagle goals en route to a 4-0 win in the semifinals of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 2-A soccer playoffs.
Fayetteville Academy, the top-seeded team in the tournament, improves to 17-1-1 and advances to Saturday’s state championship match, which ironically will be played at Westchester’s home field in High Point.
The Eagles will face a familiar opponent, Coastal Christian, which defeated Asheville Christian 3-0 in Tuesday’s other semifinal match.
Fayetteville Academy has already beaten Coastal twice this year by scores of 5-2 and 3-0. Coastal brings a 16-7-1 record into the noon match.
The game between the Academy and Westchester was scoreless until the final three minutes of the first half.
Fayetteville Academy had dominated much of the offensive play in the first half but had been unable to score against Westchester.
That ended when Hudson Zeisman found da Paz with a pass and the latter drove the ball into the right corner of the net.
“Hudson got the ball and I saw the cross coming,’’ da Paz said. “I could barely see it because there was a light in front of the ball, but God helped me and I got a goal.
“When you score a goal at the end of the half, it gives a team confidence and intensity. We were fired up in the second half.’’
“It was a great finish,’’ said Fayetteville Academy coach Andrew McCarthy said of the first goal by da Paz.
“I thought Westchester was excellent and well-organized,’’ McCarthy said. “If we go in at nil-nil it’s a different game. We score that one and it gives us a bit of a boost going into the second half.’’
McCarthy felt da Paz didn’t have good movement early in the game and spoke to him about it. “Second half his movement improved and the opportunities started to come because of that,’’ McCarthy said.
The Academy took a 2-0 lead early in the second half on da Paz’s second goal.
McCarthy felt it was a boost for the Eagles to widen the lead early in the half. “They had to come out and chase a little bit more and a few more gaps opened up,’’ he said.
Although Fayetteville Academy has beaten its finals opponent Coastal by a combined scored of 8-2 this season, McCarthy is anything but overconfident about the rematch. “They weren’t comfortable games,’’ he said. “They were a lot closer than the margin said. We’ve got to be ready to roll. They are very well-organized. We’ve got a lot of preparation to do for that game.’’
McCarthy said the Eagles are in good shape injurywise and will take the rest of this week to recover from Tuesday’s game and put together a game plan for Coastal.
According to da Paz, the Eagles will approach Saturday’s game as if they’ve never faced Coastal. “We’re going to be ready,’’ he said. “Coastal is a great team. We’ve got to be together all the time. A team that stays together wins together.’’
The Eagles will be seeking their first boys’ state soccer title since winning the championship in 2013. Coastal is returning to the title match for a second year in a row.
