Knights' surge continues
No. 2-ranked Greenfield sloshes past CCS, 5-1
By Jimmy LewisStaff Writer
Entering play on a wet Tuesday night, the Greenfield School varsity boys soccer team had shut out six consecutive opponents during its eight-game winning streak.
No fewer than 96 seconds had ticked off the Forbes Field clock when talented Community Christian eighth-grader Salvador Guzman gave the Cyclones a surprising 1-0 lead in this non-conference crosstown matchup.
But Greenfield, ranked No. 2 among North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A teams by N.C. Soccer Coaches Association, didn’t allow the upstarts to hold the lead much longer.
Junior James Wells tied the match 10 minutes later on the first of three assists by senior Ryan Stone, and freshman Alonso Hernandez had a pair of well-struck goals as Greenfield roared back for five straight goals in a 5-1 win.
Greenfield, a 1-A member of the 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference, improved to 13-3-2 in winning its ninth straight match. The 1-A Carolina Christian Conference Cyclones, who had won four out of their last five, dropped to 7-10.
"It took us a while to get into the rhythm of things,” Greenfield head coach Randol Mendoza said. "But as I told the team, when you play somebody within your city, it’s always a close match. Regardless of that ranking or where you stand in the season, it’s always a hard match. I think we took them for granted in the first few minutes.”
Any emotional lull from the Knights was discarded after Guzman took control of the ball and dribbled down the far sideline in the second minute. He turned towards the Greenfield net and junior keeper Cedrick Kirby, unleashing a low shot that Kirby was unable to save. The ball tucked inside the near post, giving the Cyclones, who started the season 0-7, an early boost.
Yet Greenfield, which had a 19-5 edge in shots, maintained steady pressure in the CCS defensive third. It was rewarded in the 12th minute on Stone’s first assist. He sent a short through ball to Wells on the slick surface, and the junior kicked it past Cyclones keeper Davis Stone to level the match at 1-all.
The tie remained intact until the 26th minute, where Hernandez authored the first of his two goal-scoring strikes. He took a short pass from Stone and fired a hard line drive from some 30 yards out, which Stone was unable to stop.
"Those were shots I’ve been practicing all the time,” Hernandez described. "And it went in.”
Stone handed out his third assist of the half in the 31st minute, again to Hernandez. Initially, a chip shot from Hernandez appeared as if it would sail over the crossbar for a goal kick. But the kick had just enough to remain under the bar, and Stone was defenseless to stop it as Greenfield assumed a 3-1 lead that lasted into halftime.
"We’ve been waiting for that all year,” Mendoza said of the Hernandez output. "He’s got so much potential with his shot, and we have yet to really see a clear-cut shot on goal with his power. So it was nice to see him get on the scoreboard with two nice strikes as well.”
Stone was kept busy for CCS in goal, stopping eight shots. Yet Greenfield tacked on two more goals in the second half, the first coming with 19:17 to go. Sophomore Gabriel Torres passed to freshman Jackson Stone, who took a shot that deflected off the post. Davis Stone of CCS tried to make a play on the deflection, but it bounced off of him and back across the goal line. The Knights wrapped up the scoring with under six minutes to play after sophomore midfielder Kris Castete finished an assist from Logan Johnson.
Kirby had two saves for Greenfield.
"I wish we could have kept the momentum,” first-year CCS head coach Monica Mills lamented. "I don’t know if we got comfortable. The (Greenfield) forwards are fast and they’re good at their through balls. So I’ll give them that.”
The Knights return to CPIC play Friday when they host 2-A Fayetteville Freedom Christian. CCS welcomes Ridgecroft in a non-conference meeting.
No. 2-ranked Greenfield sloshes past CCS, 5-1
By Jimmy LewisStaff Writer
Entering play on a wet Tuesday night, the Greenfield School varsity boys soccer team had shut out six consecutive opponents during its eight-game winning streak.
No fewer than 96 seconds had ticked off the Forbes Field clock when talented Community Christian eighth-grader Salvador Guzman gave the Cyclones a surprising 1-0 lead in this non-conference crosstown matchup.
But Greenfield, ranked No. 2 among North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A teams by N.C. Soccer Coaches Association, didn’t allow the upstarts to hold the lead much longer.
Junior James Wells tied the match 10 minutes later on the first of three assists by senior Ryan Stone, and freshman Alonso Hernandez had a pair of well-struck goals as Greenfield roared back for five straight goals in a 5-1 win.
Greenfield, a 1-A member of the 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference, improved to 13-3-2 in winning its ninth straight match. The 1-A Carolina Christian Conference Cyclones, who had won four out of their last five, dropped to 7-10.
"It took us a while to get into the rhythm of things,” Greenfield head coach Randol Mendoza said. "But as I told the team, when you play somebody within your city, it’s always a close match. Regardless of that ranking or where you stand in the season, it’s always a hard match. I think we took them for granted in the first few minutes.”
Any emotional lull from the Knights was discarded after Guzman took control of the ball and dribbled down the far sideline in the second minute. He turned towards the Greenfield net and junior keeper Cedrick Kirby, unleashing a low shot that Kirby was unable to save. The ball tucked inside the near post, giving the Cyclones, who started the season 0-7, an early boost.
Yet Greenfield, which had a 19-5 edge in shots, maintained steady pressure in the CCS defensive third. It was rewarded in the 12th minute on Stone’s first assist. He sent a short through ball to Wells on the slick surface, and the junior kicked it past Cyclones keeper Davis Stone to level the match at 1-all.
The tie remained intact until the 26th minute, where Hernandez authored the first of his two goal-scoring strikes. He took a short pass from Stone and fired a hard line drive from some 30 yards out, which Stone was unable to stop.
"Those were shots I’ve been practicing all the time,” Hernandez described. "And it went in.”
Stone handed out his third assist of the half in the 31st minute, again to Hernandez. Initially, a chip shot from Hernandez appeared as if it would sail over the crossbar for a goal kick. But the kick had just enough to remain under the bar, and Stone was defenseless to stop it as Greenfield assumed a 3-1 lead that lasted into halftime.
"We’ve been waiting for that all year,” Mendoza said of the Hernandez output. "He’s got so much potential with his shot, and we have yet to really see a clear-cut shot on goal with his power. So it was nice to see him get on the scoreboard with two nice strikes as well.”
Stone was kept busy for CCS in goal, stopping eight shots. Yet Greenfield tacked on two more goals in the second half, the first coming with 19:17 to go. Sophomore Gabriel Torres passed to freshman Jackson Stone, who took a shot that deflected off the post. Davis Stone of CCS tried to make a play on the deflection, but it bounced off of him and back across the goal line. The Knights wrapped up the scoring with under six minutes to play after sophomore midfielder Kris Castete finished an assist from Logan Johnson.
Kirby had two saves for Greenfield.
"I wish we could have kept the momentum,” first-year CCS head coach Monica Mills lamented. "I don’t know if we got comfortable. The (Greenfield) forwards are fast and they’re good at their through balls. So I’ll give them that.”
The Knights return to CPIC play Friday when they host 2-A Fayetteville Freedom Christian. CCS welcomes Ridgecroft in a non-conference meeting.
