Fayetteville Christian wins at NCISAA Sandhills tourney championship
By Monica Holland
The Fayetteville Observer USA TODAY NETWORK
Three years ago, Fayetteville Christian’s Jack Allen stepped up to the penalty mark in the Sandhills Conference tournament championship game against Village Christian.
The teams had split a pair of regular-season meetings, and both went into the postseason with just one loss.
That turnaround was huge for the Warriors, who were coming off a 2016 season in which they hadn’t won a single game.
Allen endured two winless seasons on the Fayetteville Christian jayvee squad before breaking through as a freshman.
He’d shown enough talent and confidence for coach Bobby Graham to chose him over a senior captain in this critical moment.
But Allen missed the shot, and the Warriors missed out on the league championship in their first season in the NCISAA Sandhills 2-A Conference.
Fast forward to Thursday at Jordan Soccer Complex where the Warriors hosted Freedom Christian in this season’s Sandhills tournament championship, and Allen got his redemption.
Coach Graham turned to his senior captain in a 2-all tie with a little more than five minutes left in regulation after junior Preston Frantz had drawn a foul in the penalty box. From 12 yards in front of the goal — and keeper Bennett Canady, who’d already made 15 saves — Allen pushed his shot between the posts and gave the top-seeded Warriors their first Sandhills Conference tournament title with a 3-2 win over Freedom.
“It was basically the same situation, except this time I buried it,” he said after hoisting the trophy with teammates.
“Now we just have to show people out of conference what we can do.”
The Warriors (8-1, 7-1) and Patriots (6-3, 5-2) will learn their seeding for the NCISAA playoffs on Saturday. State tournament play begins Tuesday. Freedom Christian made the most of its opportunities Thursday.
After Justin Lagos finished off Andrew Harris’ pass to the weakside to put the Warriors up 1-0, Sandhills Player of the Year Rey Molina found Joao Pedro Santos in full sprint and the sophomore scored to even the match at 1-all.
Shortly after, Santos’ touch would pay off again when he looped a free kick over the keeper to give the Patriots a 2-1 edge.
In a tense second half with three yellow cards issued, Fayetteville Christian’s Jacob Coyne kept his poise. After Frantz had a shot blocked, Elijah Wilson retrieved the ball and got it to Coyne, who scored from 15 feet out to tie the game.
“It was a grind. It could have gone either way,” Graham said after the Warriors completed the season sweep over the Patriots, adding Thursday’s 3-2 victory to a 2-1 win on Sept. 22 and a 6-1 win on Oct. 8.
“You always want to be challenged,” he said. “We fought through the adversity and I thought they showed some good resolve.
“They got tested and they came through it with a positive attitude.” Sports editor Monica Holland can be reached at mholland@fayobserver. com.
By Monica Holland
The Fayetteville Observer USA TODAY NETWORK
Three years ago, Fayetteville Christian’s Jack Allen stepped up to the penalty mark in the Sandhills Conference tournament championship game against Village Christian.
The teams had split a pair of regular-season meetings, and both went into the postseason with just one loss.
That turnaround was huge for the Warriors, who were coming off a 2016 season in which they hadn’t won a single game.
Allen endured two winless seasons on the Fayetteville Christian jayvee squad before breaking through as a freshman.
He’d shown enough talent and confidence for coach Bobby Graham to chose him over a senior captain in this critical moment.
But Allen missed the shot, and the Warriors missed out on the league championship in their first season in the NCISAA Sandhills 2-A Conference.
Fast forward to Thursday at Jordan Soccer Complex where the Warriors hosted Freedom Christian in this season’s Sandhills tournament championship, and Allen got his redemption.
Coach Graham turned to his senior captain in a 2-all tie with a little more than five minutes left in regulation after junior Preston Frantz had drawn a foul in the penalty box. From 12 yards in front of the goal — and keeper Bennett Canady, who’d already made 15 saves — Allen pushed his shot between the posts and gave the top-seeded Warriors their first Sandhills Conference tournament title with a 3-2 win over Freedom.
“It was basically the same situation, except this time I buried it,” he said after hoisting the trophy with teammates.
“Now we just have to show people out of conference what we can do.”
The Warriors (8-1, 7-1) and Patriots (6-3, 5-2) will learn their seeding for the NCISAA playoffs on Saturday. State tournament play begins Tuesday. Freedom Christian made the most of its opportunities Thursday.
After Justin Lagos finished off Andrew Harris’ pass to the weakside to put the Warriors up 1-0, Sandhills Player of the Year Rey Molina found Joao Pedro Santos in full sprint and the sophomore scored to even the match at 1-all.
Shortly after, Santos’ touch would pay off again when he looped a free kick over the keeper to give the Patriots a 2-1 edge.
In a tense second half with three yellow cards issued, Fayetteville Christian’s Jacob Coyne kept his poise. After Frantz had a shot blocked, Elijah Wilson retrieved the ball and got it to Coyne, who scored from 15 feet out to tie the game.
“It was a grind. It could have gone either way,” Graham said after the Warriors completed the season sweep over the Patriots, adding Thursday’s 3-2 victory to a 2-1 win on Sept. 22 and a 6-1 win on Oct. 8.
“You always want to be challenged,” he said. “We fought through the adversity and I thought they showed some good resolve.
“They got tested and they came through it with a positive attitude.” Sports editor Monica Holland can be reached at mholland@fayobserver. com.
