Fayetteville Academy earns ‘beautiful,’ ‘lovely’ OT win to open season
By Rodd Baxley
The Fayetteville Observer USA TODAY NETWORK
Beautiful and lovely aren’t the first words that come to mind when thinking about 2020.
But those were the two words Anthony Sevilla used to describe Monday’s season opener for the Fayetteville Academy boys’ soccer team.
“I’m just glad that we’re all safe and we’re all able to play this beautiful game,” said Sevilla, who netted the gamewinning goal in the Eagles’ 2-1 overtime victory against Greenfield School.
“It’s just lovely.”
The frustration from the last six months — and a match that saw the Knights take a 1-0 lead early in the second half — turned to elation on Monday evening when Sevilla beat a pair of defenders and fired a strike past Greenfield’s goalkeeper for the overtime winner.
“I missed chances before,” the junior said. “That one was going in.”
Sevilla heard Fayetteville Academy coach Andrew McCarthy yell his name more than any other player throughout the match.
The Eagles' talented forward responded to the challenge at the 87-minute mark, and McCarthy couldn’t have been happier.
“I’m pleased for him because he’s the sort of kid that truly loves the game and works incredibly hard,” McCarthy said.
“. … It’s great when you see hard work pay off.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no fans were allowed to sit in the bleachers.
But a handful gathered beneath the pine trees outside of the gates to watch the tightly-contested match,which was scoreless at halftime.
Nine minutes into the second half, the Knights broke the ice after Fayetteville Academy was hit with a yellow card in the box that led to a penalty kick, which was fired into the left side of the net by Jeremy Alvarez.
“It’s all about sticking together and fighting, battling and working incredibly hard for each other,” McCarthy said.
The Eagles answered at the 29-minute mark with a penalty kick of their own after Sevilla was tripped up on a slide tackle in the box. Colin Martin’s rightfooted strike into the upper-right side of the net was the equalizer.
Martin, another talented junior for the Eagles, wasn’t pleased with how he was performing on corner kicks earlier in the match. That made the penalty kick that much sweeter.
“Scoring that, I felt like I lifted my team up and kind of redeemed myself,” he said.
McCarthy’s plan centered around a patient, disciplined defense with his talented forwards leading the charge on counterattacks.
“With Anthony and Scott (Fincher) and Colin, they’re dangerous going forward,” he added. “So if we’re just patient and we defend well, opportunities are gonna come.”
Despite multiple players battling leg cramps late in the second half and during the overtime period, the Eagles were able to find those opportunities.
Freshman goalkeeper Tochukwu Ejeh did the rest to keep the Knights at bay before Sevilla’s clincher.
“This was his chance to be on the varsity team and he stepped up and made a couple of big-time saves when he needed to,” McCarthy said of Ejeh.
“We’re so proud of him.”
Prior to the game, McCarthy said he talked with his team about the “privilege” to play this fall. “There’s so many that are not getting that chance,” he said.
Martin plans to take that message to heart every time he steps on the pitch.
'I try to take advantage of every opportunity I can,' he added.
The Eagles did just that on Monday. They'll look to do the same on Friday when Village Christian comes to campus for a 5:15 p.m. match.
“For the first game of the season, an exciting game, the guys just worked incredibly hard and I’m just so proud of them,” McCarthy said.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver. com.
By Rodd Baxley
The Fayetteville Observer USA TODAY NETWORK
Beautiful and lovely aren’t the first words that come to mind when thinking about 2020.
But those were the two words Anthony Sevilla used to describe Monday’s season opener for the Fayetteville Academy boys’ soccer team.
“I’m just glad that we’re all safe and we’re all able to play this beautiful game,” said Sevilla, who netted the gamewinning goal in the Eagles’ 2-1 overtime victory against Greenfield School.
“It’s just lovely.”
The frustration from the last six months — and a match that saw the Knights take a 1-0 lead early in the second half — turned to elation on Monday evening when Sevilla beat a pair of defenders and fired a strike past Greenfield’s goalkeeper for the overtime winner.
“I missed chances before,” the junior said. “That one was going in.”
Sevilla heard Fayetteville Academy coach Andrew McCarthy yell his name more than any other player throughout the match.
The Eagles' talented forward responded to the challenge at the 87-minute mark, and McCarthy couldn’t have been happier.
“I’m pleased for him because he’s the sort of kid that truly loves the game and works incredibly hard,” McCarthy said.
“. … It’s great when you see hard work pay off.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no fans were allowed to sit in the bleachers.
But a handful gathered beneath the pine trees outside of the gates to watch the tightly-contested match,which was scoreless at halftime.
Nine minutes into the second half, the Knights broke the ice after Fayetteville Academy was hit with a yellow card in the box that led to a penalty kick, which was fired into the left side of the net by Jeremy Alvarez.
“It’s all about sticking together and fighting, battling and working incredibly hard for each other,” McCarthy said.
The Eagles answered at the 29-minute mark with a penalty kick of their own after Sevilla was tripped up on a slide tackle in the box. Colin Martin’s rightfooted strike into the upper-right side of the net was the equalizer.
Martin, another talented junior for the Eagles, wasn’t pleased with how he was performing on corner kicks earlier in the match. That made the penalty kick that much sweeter.
“Scoring that, I felt like I lifted my team up and kind of redeemed myself,” he said.
McCarthy’s plan centered around a patient, disciplined defense with his talented forwards leading the charge on counterattacks.
“With Anthony and Scott (Fincher) and Colin, they’re dangerous going forward,” he added. “So if we’re just patient and we defend well, opportunities are gonna come.”
Despite multiple players battling leg cramps late in the second half and during the overtime period, the Eagles were able to find those opportunities.
Freshman goalkeeper Tochukwu Ejeh did the rest to keep the Knights at bay before Sevilla’s clincher.
“This was his chance to be on the varsity team and he stepped up and made a couple of big-time saves when he needed to,” McCarthy said of Ejeh.
“We’re so proud of him.”
Prior to the game, McCarthy said he talked with his team about the “privilege” to play this fall. “There’s so many that are not getting that chance,” he said.
Martin plans to take that message to heart every time he steps on the pitch.
'I try to take advantage of every opportunity I can,' he added.
The Eagles did just that on Monday. They'll look to do the same on Friday when Village Christian comes to campus for a 5:15 p.m. match.
“For the first game of the season, an exciting game, the guys just worked incredibly hard and I’m just so proud of them,” McCarthy said.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver. com.
