Colts battle to a draw
BY LOGAN ULRICH
SPORTS EDITOR HENDERSON DAILY DISPATCH
Crossroads Christian didn’t win its soccer match on Tuesday. In fact, the Colts haven’t won much on the pitch so far this season.
But against Cresset Christian Academy, they resisted losing with all their hearts, three times battling back to tie the game and leave Durham with a 4-4 draw.
It wasn’t a win, like head coach Aaron Hale thought it should have been. But it wasn’t a loss like it easily could have been, and for that Hale gave the team credit.
“They were not going to settle for it,” he said. “They made the plays they had to make.”
But long before Hale’s comments after the game, he was left bemoaning the plays his team gave up to its opponent. Crossroads Christian (2-8-1) dug itself three feet into the ground in the first half, surrendering an own goal minutes into the game and leaving another shooter wide open for a second. Cresset Christian (0-4-1) led 2-0 halfway through the first frame.
The Colts offense eventually came alive, but it stuttered rather than ignited. Crossroads Christian mustered several separate attacks on the goal, but whether it was a save by the Eagles’ keeper, a missed pass or a defender dispossessing an attacker of the ball from behind, it was kept out of the net.
The momentum built, though. Finding a rhythm, the Colts strung some offensive possession together and protected their back line. Finally, forward Brodie Steffensen broke through with a goal in the 36th minute after Crossroads Christian worked the ball around the box.
A few minutes later, forward Zaire Edwards broke through with a one-on-one opportunity against the keeper. His shot to the right post was saved, and as Hale screamed “Lazy!” at his players for failing to follow the shot, Cade Carlson stole the ball and passed to J.J. Ballentine, who boomed a shot into theupper left corner of the goal to tie the game.
The start to the second half played out similar to the first in several ways, as the offense lost whatever synergy it had cobbled together. Cresset Christian played with a high back line and the Colts were able to create more than a dozen breakaway chances. But a lack oforganization crippled theireffectiveness.
“Not communicating and guys getting anxious, just in general not being aggressive,” Hale said. “They’re just not hungry.”
The Eagles meanwhile hung firm, then struck midway through the second half. Crossroads Christian hung too far off of an attacker at the top of the box, allowing him to move to his left and create enough space to send a shot past keeper Jackson Overby for a 3-2 lead.
With the game crumbling and Hale begging for leadership from the sideline, Carlson pulled his team back. He took the ball from the Colts own side of the fi eld, and sliced a path 75 yards through the defense to put the ball in the net and tie the game again.
“Sheer effort and sheer heart made that happen,” Hale said.
After another herculean effort by Overby, who made three saves in rapid succession and literally plucked the last one from the feet of an attacker, Crossroads Christian again went downa goal. A shot ricocheted off the post and Cresset Christian buried the rebound with 9:30 remaining in the game.
But the Colts again beat back the pressure. Edwards played a pass forward to Carlson behind the defense, and Carlson willed the ball past a defender and the keeper to again equalize the score.
Both teams had chances through the two ten-minute overtime periods, but when the final whistle blew, Crossroads Christian had survived. Through sheer force of will, the Colts resisted losing.
BY LOGAN ULRICH
SPORTS EDITOR HENDERSON DAILY DISPATCH
Crossroads Christian didn’t win its soccer match on Tuesday. In fact, the Colts haven’t won much on the pitch so far this season.
But against Cresset Christian Academy, they resisted losing with all their hearts, three times battling back to tie the game and leave Durham with a 4-4 draw.
It wasn’t a win, like head coach Aaron Hale thought it should have been. But it wasn’t a loss like it easily could have been, and for that Hale gave the team credit.
“They were not going to settle for it,” he said. “They made the plays they had to make.”
But long before Hale’s comments after the game, he was left bemoaning the plays his team gave up to its opponent. Crossroads Christian (2-8-1) dug itself three feet into the ground in the first half, surrendering an own goal minutes into the game and leaving another shooter wide open for a second. Cresset Christian (0-4-1) led 2-0 halfway through the first frame.
The Colts offense eventually came alive, but it stuttered rather than ignited. Crossroads Christian mustered several separate attacks on the goal, but whether it was a save by the Eagles’ keeper, a missed pass or a defender dispossessing an attacker of the ball from behind, it was kept out of the net.
The momentum built, though. Finding a rhythm, the Colts strung some offensive possession together and protected their back line. Finally, forward Brodie Steffensen broke through with a goal in the 36th minute after Crossroads Christian worked the ball around the box.
A few minutes later, forward Zaire Edwards broke through with a one-on-one opportunity against the keeper. His shot to the right post was saved, and as Hale screamed “Lazy!” at his players for failing to follow the shot, Cade Carlson stole the ball and passed to J.J. Ballentine, who boomed a shot into theupper left corner of the goal to tie the game.
The start to the second half played out similar to the first in several ways, as the offense lost whatever synergy it had cobbled together. Cresset Christian played with a high back line and the Colts were able to create more than a dozen breakaway chances. But a lack oforganization crippled theireffectiveness.
“Not communicating and guys getting anxious, just in general not being aggressive,” Hale said. “They’re just not hungry.”
The Eagles meanwhile hung firm, then struck midway through the second half. Crossroads Christian hung too far off of an attacker at the top of the box, allowing him to move to his left and create enough space to send a shot past keeper Jackson Overby for a 3-2 lead.
With the game crumbling and Hale begging for leadership from the sideline, Carlson pulled his team back. He took the ball from the Colts own side of the fi eld, and sliced a path 75 yards through the defense to put the ball in the net and tie the game again.
“Sheer effort and sheer heart made that happen,” Hale said.
After another herculean effort by Overby, who made three saves in rapid succession and literally plucked the last one from the feet of an attacker, Crossroads Christian again went downa goal. A shot ricocheted off the post and Cresset Christian buried the rebound with 9:30 remaining in the game.
But the Colts again beat back the pressure. Edwards played a pass forward to Carlson behind the defense, and Carlson willed the ball past a defender and the keeper to again equalize the score.
Both teams had chances through the two ten-minute overtime periods, but when the final whistle blew, Crossroads Christian had survived. Through sheer force of will, the Colts resisted losing.
