Fayetteville Academy defeats Terry Sanford in intense early season battle
By Rodd Baxley
Staff writer FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
The Fayetteville Academy boys’ soccer team features 18 players.
Only two of them are seniors.
But when the moment arrived on Tuesday night at Pine Forest High School, one of them — Cortez Herring — seized it.
Herring scored the goahead goal in the Eagles’ 2-0 victory against Terry Sanford in the opening round of the Miller’s Crew Battle for the Bell tournament.
“It feels really good,” Herring said.
“It’s a team that we really wanna beat — it’s a rival. We have tons of friends on that team. You just saw the passion to win for our school.
“The first two teams we played were really good. As we play teams that are more even with us, we’re getting better. I thought it was probably our best performance of the season so far.”
The shifty senior used some nifty footwork to weave his way around a Bulldog defender and calmly booted a strike into the right side of the net at the 53-minute mark for the difference maker.
“We’re trying to get him in more advanced areas where he can hurt teams more,” said Fayetteville Academy coach Andrew McCarthy.
“He finally got in the box. When he gets in the box, he’s very dangerous. What happened when he got in the box?
Great finish.”
The Eagles (2-2), who had 10 seniors on their roster in 2018, finished last season with a 14-2 record that included a second consecutive NCISAA 2-A state title. They racked up 13 wins in a row to end the year, capping the run with with a 3-1 win against Gaston Day for state honors. Sophomore Anthony Sevilla added an insurance goal in the 69th minute for the final tally. Sevilla used his speed to get loose on the right side of the pitch, firing a shot into the far side of the net to put an exclamation point in the night.
“When you play a local rival like that, the intensity is always going to be high with nervous energy,” McCarthy said.
“It was tough and with the heat how it is, it was a scrappy game. It’s always a scrappy game with them … We just kept battling, kept persevering and trying to do the right things. Eventually, we got a couple of breaks and two good goals.”
Both teams had scoring chances in the first 40 minutes off set pieces. Terry Sanford sophomore Davis Molnar had a pair of headers go wide and the Eagles had several golden opportunities in the box, including back-to-back shots with just over seven minutes left in the first half.
Sevilla fired a shot to the left side of the goal that was blocked by Terry Sanford goalkeeper Owen Szwejbka. Fayetteville Academy sophomore Arinze Ejeh collected the rebound but his right-footed strike caromed off the post before the Bulldogs cleared it.
The Eagles will play in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday at Pine Forest against the Trojans or Lee County.
“Very tough test,” McCarthy said. “Two very good sides. It’ll definitely be a very challenging game no matter who we play.”
Methodist University will host the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.
com or 910-486-3519
By Rodd Baxley
Staff writer FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
The Fayetteville Academy boys’ soccer team features 18 players.
Only two of them are seniors.
But when the moment arrived on Tuesday night at Pine Forest High School, one of them — Cortez Herring — seized it.
Herring scored the goahead goal in the Eagles’ 2-0 victory against Terry Sanford in the opening round of the Miller’s Crew Battle for the Bell tournament.
“It feels really good,” Herring said.
“It’s a team that we really wanna beat — it’s a rival. We have tons of friends on that team. You just saw the passion to win for our school.
“The first two teams we played were really good. As we play teams that are more even with us, we’re getting better. I thought it was probably our best performance of the season so far.”
The shifty senior used some nifty footwork to weave his way around a Bulldog defender and calmly booted a strike into the right side of the net at the 53-minute mark for the difference maker.
“We’re trying to get him in more advanced areas where he can hurt teams more,” said Fayetteville Academy coach Andrew McCarthy.
“He finally got in the box. When he gets in the box, he’s very dangerous. What happened when he got in the box?
Great finish.”
The Eagles (2-2), who had 10 seniors on their roster in 2018, finished last season with a 14-2 record that included a second consecutive NCISAA 2-A state title. They racked up 13 wins in a row to end the year, capping the run with with a 3-1 win against Gaston Day for state honors. Sophomore Anthony Sevilla added an insurance goal in the 69th minute for the final tally. Sevilla used his speed to get loose on the right side of the pitch, firing a shot into the far side of the net to put an exclamation point in the night.
“When you play a local rival like that, the intensity is always going to be high with nervous energy,” McCarthy said.
“It was tough and with the heat how it is, it was a scrappy game. It’s always a scrappy game with them … We just kept battling, kept persevering and trying to do the right things. Eventually, we got a couple of breaks and two good goals.”
Both teams had scoring chances in the first 40 minutes off set pieces. Terry Sanford sophomore Davis Molnar had a pair of headers go wide and the Eagles had several golden opportunities in the box, including back-to-back shots with just over seven minutes left in the first half.
Sevilla fired a shot to the left side of the goal that was blocked by Terry Sanford goalkeeper Owen Szwejbka. Fayetteville Academy sophomore Arinze Ejeh collected the rebound but his right-footed strike caromed off the post before the Bulldogs cleared it.
The Eagles will play in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday at Pine Forest against the Trojans or Lee County.
“Very tough test,” McCarthy said. “Two very good sides. It’ll definitely be a very challenging game no matter who we play.”
Methodist University will host the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.
com or 910-486-3519
