Knights wake up in time to beat Bruins 3-0
Wells stays onside, scores twice in Rotary Cup win
By Randy Jones Staff Writer
The beginning of Tuesday night’s opening-round Rotary Cup match between Greenfield and Beddingfield went exactly as one coach wanted it to, and exactly opposite what the other had hoped.
“We wanted to come out here and keep them from scoring for the first 10, 15 minutes,” Gary Carter said after his first match as Bruins head coach. “And then see how things went from there.”
Knights head coach Randol Mendoza was certainly not happy with his team’s opening effort.
“The first 10, 15 minutes were a wake-up call,” he said. “No, make that the first half was a wake-up call for us.”
Eventually, Greenfield’s offense came to life as junior forward James Wells scored in the 34th and 47th minutes and freshman midfielder Alonso Hernandez added a third tally in the 64th as the Knights won 3-0 to improve to 3-0-1. Beddingfield ended up being outshot 18-7 in dropping its season opener.
The game remained scoreless for the first 33 minutes, and neither team even managed a shot until the 16th when Greenfield junior midfielder Logan Johnson passed to senior forward Ryan Stone in open space.
However, Stone’s shot was way wide of target to the left.
Beddingfield didn’t manage a shot until the 28th minute when junior Jonathan Diaz Ocampo stole a pass and drilled a shot low towards the left corner. The shot, however, was wide and didn’t need to be played by Knights’ senior keeper Harrison Currin.
Greenfield immediately countered, with Wells beating two defenders into the box but his run was foiled by Bruins’ keeper Cumercindo Arias Jaimes, when the freshman slid towards Wells and scooped the ball out of harms way.
“He was aggressive,” Carter said of Jaimes. “Made a good play there.”
Jaimes had to make another big play in the 31st minute, coming way off his line to snag a potential breakaway pass from the back by Greenfield sophomore midfielder Jackson Stone.
However, his aggressiveness worked in the Knights’ favor three minutes later when Johnson flicked a ball over a defender to an in-stride — and onside — Wells. Wells got the ball and flicked it over the charging Jaimes into the back of the net for the half’s only score.
Wells, who was called offside five times in the scoreless tie with Cape Fear Academy in Saturday’s Greenfield Cup championship, said he made a concerted effort to time his runs better on Tuesday.
“Yeah, I tried to time it perfect this time,” he said. “Although, I don’t think I was off all those times Saturday. But we were able to connect tonight much better.”
Mendoza told his players at the half that they may have been looking beyond Beddingfield towards the next two Cup games against Hunt and Fike.
The second half saw Greenfield double its offensive output in all regards. After just six shots in the first half, the Knights had 12 in the second. One goal in the first, two in the second.
“It wasn’t anything technically and it was the same unit on the field,” Mendoza said. “It was just we came to play in the second half.”
It took just seven minutes in the second half for Johnson and Wells to hook up again.
This time, the midfielder threaded a ball between two defenders to a running Wells, who dribbled 20 yards before beating Jaimes in the lower right to make it 2-0.
“I just saw the open space we had and Logan played a perfect ball,” Wells said.
Beddingfield did get two shots on frame in the second half. A first toe-poked effort off the boot of Ocampo in the 46th minute from 45 yards was easily grabbed by Currin. The second came in the 50th minute, also off the foot of Ocampo from a similar distance. That ball was stopped, but dropped by Currin, however no Bruins’ attacker was nearby.
A minute later, Beddingfield’s best chance came on a set piece from about 22 yards out.
With junior forwards Valentin Millan-Estrada and Christian Chavez standing over the ball, Millan-Estrada ran over the ball without touching it before Chavez sent a screaming ball over the Greenfield wall. The ball almost found a home, but just flew an inch or so over the top bar.
“That was a nice one,” Carter exclaimed.
Conditioning became an issue for the Bruins as the minutes pressed on.
Hernandez scored in the 64th minute when sophomore midfielder Cullen Wells struck a corner kick into the box to the midfielder. He got possession about 7 yards out and simply turned and fired into the net as two defenders stood close.
“We didn’t have as many chances as they did in the second half,” Carter said. “I think we got a little tired. We don’t have a lot of depth and it started to show. We didn’t do a good job defensively as the game went on rotating on our back line. But that will come.”
Both teams’ next Rotary Cup game will be Thursday. Greenfield plays Hunt at 6:30 p.m. while Beddingfield will take on Wilson Christian at 8.
Wells stays onside, scores twice in Rotary Cup win
By Randy Jones Staff Writer
The beginning of Tuesday night’s opening-round Rotary Cup match between Greenfield and Beddingfield went exactly as one coach wanted it to, and exactly opposite what the other had hoped.
“We wanted to come out here and keep them from scoring for the first 10, 15 minutes,” Gary Carter said after his first match as Bruins head coach. “And then see how things went from there.”
Knights head coach Randol Mendoza was certainly not happy with his team’s opening effort.
“The first 10, 15 minutes were a wake-up call,” he said. “No, make that the first half was a wake-up call for us.”
Eventually, Greenfield’s offense came to life as junior forward James Wells scored in the 34th and 47th minutes and freshman midfielder Alonso Hernandez added a third tally in the 64th as the Knights won 3-0 to improve to 3-0-1. Beddingfield ended up being outshot 18-7 in dropping its season opener.
The game remained scoreless for the first 33 minutes, and neither team even managed a shot until the 16th when Greenfield junior midfielder Logan Johnson passed to senior forward Ryan Stone in open space.
However, Stone’s shot was way wide of target to the left.
Beddingfield didn’t manage a shot until the 28th minute when junior Jonathan Diaz Ocampo stole a pass and drilled a shot low towards the left corner. The shot, however, was wide and didn’t need to be played by Knights’ senior keeper Harrison Currin.
Greenfield immediately countered, with Wells beating two defenders into the box but his run was foiled by Bruins’ keeper Cumercindo Arias Jaimes, when the freshman slid towards Wells and scooped the ball out of harms way.
“He was aggressive,” Carter said of Jaimes. “Made a good play there.”
Jaimes had to make another big play in the 31st minute, coming way off his line to snag a potential breakaway pass from the back by Greenfield sophomore midfielder Jackson Stone.
However, his aggressiveness worked in the Knights’ favor three minutes later when Johnson flicked a ball over a defender to an in-stride — and onside — Wells. Wells got the ball and flicked it over the charging Jaimes into the back of the net for the half’s only score.
Wells, who was called offside five times in the scoreless tie with Cape Fear Academy in Saturday’s Greenfield Cup championship, said he made a concerted effort to time his runs better on Tuesday.
“Yeah, I tried to time it perfect this time,” he said. “Although, I don’t think I was off all those times Saturday. But we were able to connect tonight much better.”
Mendoza told his players at the half that they may have been looking beyond Beddingfield towards the next two Cup games against Hunt and Fike.
The second half saw Greenfield double its offensive output in all regards. After just six shots in the first half, the Knights had 12 in the second. One goal in the first, two in the second.
“It wasn’t anything technically and it was the same unit on the field,” Mendoza said. “It was just we came to play in the second half.”
It took just seven minutes in the second half for Johnson and Wells to hook up again.
This time, the midfielder threaded a ball between two defenders to a running Wells, who dribbled 20 yards before beating Jaimes in the lower right to make it 2-0.
“I just saw the open space we had and Logan played a perfect ball,” Wells said.
Beddingfield did get two shots on frame in the second half. A first toe-poked effort off the boot of Ocampo in the 46th minute from 45 yards was easily grabbed by Currin. The second came in the 50th minute, also off the foot of Ocampo from a similar distance. That ball was stopped, but dropped by Currin, however no Bruins’ attacker was nearby.
A minute later, Beddingfield’s best chance came on a set piece from about 22 yards out.
With junior forwards Valentin Millan-Estrada and Christian Chavez standing over the ball, Millan-Estrada ran over the ball without touching it before Chavez sent a screaming ball over the Greenfield wall. The ball almost found a home, but just flew an inch or so over the top bar.
“That was a nice one,” Carter exclaimed.
Conditioning became an issue for the Bruins as the minutes pressed on.
Hernandez scored in the 64th minute when sophomore midfielder Cullen Wells struck a corner kick into the box to the midfielder. He got possession about 7 yards out and simply turned and fired into the net as two defenders stood close.
“We didn’t have as many chances as they did in the second half,” Carter said. “I think we got a little tired. We don’t have a lot of depth and it started to show. We didn’t do a good job defensively as the game went on rotating on our back line. But that will come.”
Both teams’ next Rotary Cup game will be Thursday. Greenfield plays Hunt at 6:30 p.m. while Beddingfield will take on Wilson Christian at 8.
