Eagles score two second-half goals, hang on for second-round win
By PATRICK MASON
Sports Writer
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Ada Everette began taking the corner kick opportunities for her soccer teams in the eighth grade. Things haven’t changed much, except now as a junior for Rocky Mount Academy, Everette has added some bend.
That new trick proved to be the difference on Thursday in the Eagles’ 2-1 win over visiting Raleigh Friendship Christian School in the second round of the NCISAA 2-A playoffs.
RMA will now travel to Fayetteville on Saturday to play Fayetteville Academy in the quarterfinals.
It was the Eagles (18-2) who mounted an offensive push early in the second half, a push that produced five shots, three corner kick opportunities and two goals — both of which involved Everette.
On the second corner kick of a possession, Everette dialed in the distance and did not miss. Her shot curved toward the net, and found the head of midfielder Barrett Eidson who crashed in just moments before heading the ball into the net.
It was the second goal of the half for RMA, which took that 2-1 lead to the end.
“I have a pretty big foot and I’ve gotten to the point where it curves so close to the goal so someone can head it in,” Everette said. “Instead of kicking it far out, I just looked for the middle because I knew someone is going to get some touch on it. I’ve made a goal off one of them a couple weeks back, so it’s getting better.”
The Eagles’ equalizing goal was scored by Everette just minutes earlier. The forward, who finished second on the team in goals with 14 behind Isabel Smith’s 28, took control of the ball at the top of the box, deked a defender, and uncorked a hard shot that scooted across the grass and into the corner of the net.
“There was a person in front of me and I knew if I could cut around her she wouldn’t get the ball and I would have a close shot,” Everette said. “Before I got the ball I looked around and I was like, ‘Someone pass it to me’ because all I had to do was get it around this girl.”
When Everette zipped around the lone defender and saw no one but the keeper, she knew what to do. Her decision to keep the ball low came from what she and her teammates noticed about the Falcons’ keeper and she adjusted her shot accordingly.
“We knew the goalie went to the ground a lot,” she said. “And I thought if I could get it to a corner it would be hard for her to get to.”
With the scoring taken care of, RMA goalkeeper Abigail Adcock did the rest. She kept the Falcons’ offense quiet by making 12 saves, including a few in the waning minutes that touched the upper reaches of the degree of difficulty meter.
With their season on the brink, the Falcons peppered Adcock. She dove to her left and snagged a shot with her fingertips to halt one prime chance, and redirected another shot by tipping it into the crossbar. Later, the sophomore turned away a point-blank shot to keep the 2-1 lead intact.
“It feels like you’re in slo-mo when you’re going down, because you see it at first,” Adcock said of her diving save. “But I ended up closing my eyes at the end and, well, it’s either there or it’s not. I was pretty scared.”
The only goal allowed came on a penalty kick 18 minutes into the first half.
And with their keeper-turned brick wall as their last line of defense, the Eagles just had to hang on. It almost didn’t happen. RMA coach Eric Gutshall had unsettling images of the Eagles’ first-round win that required penalty kicks after four scoreless overtime sessions replaying in his mind.
Instead, it came down to being on the favorable end of close call.
The Falcons’ would-be tying goal was a half-second too late. Friendship Christian got off a shot in front of the RMA goal which was turned away by Adock, but the rebound wasn’t cleared and a Falcons player got a foot on it.
Both teams could only watch as the ball rolled across the line just after the final horn sounded to mark the end of the game. The Falcons thought they tied the score, but the goal was ruled off.
“I feel like it’s March Madness,” Gutshall said. “Two games in a row. It was meant to be.”
By PATRICK MASON
Sports Writer
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Ada Everette began taking the corner kick opportunities for her soccer teams in the eighth grade. Things haven’t changed much, except now as a junior for Rocky Mount Academy, Everette has added some bend.
That new trick proved to be the difference on Thursday in the Eagles’ 2-1 win over visiting Raleigh Friendship Christian School in the second round of the NCISAA 2-A playoffs.
RMA will now travel to Fayetteville on Saturday to play Fayetteville Academy in the quarterfinals.
It was the Eagles (18-2) who mounted an offensive push early in the second half, a push that produced five shots, three corner kick opportunities and two goals — both of which involved Everette.
On the second corner kick of a possession, Everette dialed in the distance and did not miss. Her shot curved toward the net, and found the head of midfielder Barrett Eidson who crashed in just moments before heading the ball into the net.
It was the second goal of the half for RMA, which took that 2-1 lead to the end.
“I have a pretty big foot and I’ve gotten to the point where it curves so close to the goal so someone can head it in,” Everette said. “Instead of kicking it far out, I just looked for the middle because I knew someone is going to get some touch on it. I’ve made a goal off one of them a couple weeks back, so it’s getting better.”
The Eagles’ equalizing goal was scored by Everette just minutes earlier. The forward, who finished second on the team in goals with 14 behind Isabel Smith’s 28, took control of the ball at the top of the box, deked a defender, and uncorked a hard shot that scooted across the grass and into the corner of the net.
“There was a person in front of me and I knew if I could cut around her she wouldn’t get the ball and I would have a close shot,” Everette said. “Before I got the ball I looked around and I was like, ‘Someone pass it to me’ because all I had to do was get it around this girl.”
When Everette zipped around the lone defender and saw no one but the keeper, she knew what to do. Her decision to keep the ball low came from what she and her teammates noticed about the Falcons’ keeper and she adjusted her shot accordingly.
“We knew the goalie went to the ground a lot,” she said. “And I thought if I could get it to a corner it would be hard for her to get to.”
With the scoring taken care of, RMA goalkeeper Abigail Adcock did the rest. She kept the Falcons’ offense quiet by making 12 saves, including a few in the waning minutes that touched the upper reaches of the degree of difficulty meter.
With their season on the brink, the Falcons peppered Adcock. She dove to her left and snagged a shot with her fingertips to halt one prime chance, and redirected another shot by tipping it into the crossbar. Later, the sophomore turned away a point-blank shot to keep the 2-1 lead intact.
“It feels like you’re in slo-mo when you’re going down, because you see it at first,” Adcock said of her diving save. “But I ended up closing my eyes at the end and, well, it’s either there or it’s not. I was pretty scared.”
The only goal allowed came on a penalty kick 18 minutes into the first half.
And with their keeper-turned brick wall as their last line of defense, the Eagles just had to hang on. It almost didn’t happen. RMA coach Eric Gutshall had unsettling images of the Eagles’ first-round win that required penalty kicks after four scoreless overtime sessions replaying in his mind.
Instead, it came down to being on the favorable end of close call.
The Falcons’ would-be tying goal was a half-second too late. Friendship Christian got off a shot in front of the RMA goal which was turned away by Adock, but the rebound wasn’t cleared and a Falcons player got a foot on it.
Both teams could only watch as the ball rolled across the line just after the final horn sounded to mark the end of the game. The Falcons thought they tied the score, but the goal was ruled off.
“I feel like it’s March Madness,” Gutshall said. “Two games in a row. It was meant to be.”
