HP Christian soccer beats rival Westchester
• Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian made the most of its second opportunity against rival Westchester Country Day.
The Cougars, playing well but losing the teams’ previous matchup, took control with a pair of goals midway through the first half. They held on before netting two late goals to seal a 4-0 win in PTAC boys soccer Friday evening in front of a sizable crowd at Correll-Morris Field.
“I feel like that’s the performance we’ve been looking for,” HPCA coach Austin Beck said. “We put it all together tonight. I told the guys that there wasn’t really a moment when we seemed out of sorts. I think we controlled the game from the opening kick to the final whistle. That’s what we’ve been asking all season.”
Jackson Davis and Franklin Cox each had a goal and two assists to lead the Cougars (7-10 overall, 4-1 conference), who played well Sept. 14 at Westchester but struggled with a couple key miscues in falling 2-1. Seth Foster and Mason Mosier each had a goal as HPCA again controlled much of the match.
“It’s really good,” said Cox, a senior forward. “You never want to lose to Westchester — that’s our rival,” he said with a smile. “I think we just looked back at the last game. And coming back here, we knew what to do and we knew how to execute it. It felt really good to come out and get the win.”
HPCA, which pushed forward from the start, took the lead in the 23rd minute. Davis sent a free kick from the right side to the far post, where Mosier sharply redirected the ball into the net. In the 26th minute, the ball went up the right side and Foster eluded the defense and slid a shot into the left side for a 2-0 lead.
“I think we understood how they were defending from the first game,” Cox said. “They sent a player deep. So I think having someone on him just kind of opened it up for more for the midfield and we had more to play with.”
The Wildcats (8-4, 3-2), who dipped into third place behind the Cougars and first-place Calvary Day, had a couple noteworthy opportunities late in the half — including a nice combination run through the middle in the waning seconds. But their shots were either off the mark or stopped by the HPCA defense.
The teams were pretty even for much of the second half.
“I want to give High Point Christian and Austin all the credit,” Westchester coach Adam Schwartz said. “Their team played yesterday, and they were prepared. Franklin, Jackson, Seth and Brady (Hepner) — they were unbelievable tonight. They were difference makers, and they really played well.
“All the credit to them. And hopefully it’ll wake us up. We’ll go back to work on Monday and try to get ready for Calvary on Tuesday. … Going down two goals in a rivalry game — especially when they have good defenders — it’s just hard. They beat us to those balls early, and it was just hard to recover from that.”
The Cougars tacked on two final goals with the clock stopped at two minutes. Cox took the ball on the left side, wove through the defense and scored. Then, shortly thereafter, the ball went across to the right side for Davis — sealing HPCA’s second win in the teams’ last five meetings.
“Anytime you’re scoring goals it’s a good thing,” Beck said with a smile. “But we knew they were going to come with energy. They feed off that, and that’s where a lot of their success comes from. We talked about it in our pregame: You’ve got to come out, match that and better it.
“And obviously the more chances you put on net, the more you kind of take them out of their ability to steamroll through with the energy and intensity. So, once again, I think our guys brought it and matched it from the opening kick. I’m really pleased with the way we played tonight.”
Connor Bullard made eight saves in goal for the Cougars, who outshot the Wildcats 20-15. Grey Lunnen made eight saves for Westchester, which had won six of the previous seven meetings since the series between former rivals in the old PTAC cranked back up in earnest in 2017.
Both teams continue conference play Tuesday. HPCA plays at Caldwell, while Westchester travels to Calvary.
• Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian made the most of its second opportunity against rival Westchester Country Day.
The Cougars, playing well but losing the teams’ previous matchup, took control with a pair of goals midway through the first half. They held on before netting two late goals to seal a 4-0 win in PTAC boys soccer Friday evening in front of a sizable crowd at Correll-Morris Field.
“I feel like that’s the performance we’ve been looking for,” HPCA coach Austin Beck said. “We put it all together tonight. I told the guys that there wasn’t really a moment when we seemed out of sorts. I think we controlled the game from the opening kick to the final whistle. That’s what we’ve been asking all season.”
Jackson Davis and Franklin Cox each had a goal and two assists to lead the Cougars (7-10 overall, 4-1 conference), who played well Sept. 14 at Westchester but struggled with a couple key miscues in falling 2-1. Seth Foster and Mason Mosier each had a goal as HPCA again controlled much of the match.
“It’s really good,” said Cox, a senior forward. “You never want to lose to Westchester — that’s our rival,” he said with a smile. “I think we just looked back at the last game. And coming back here, we knew what to do and we knew how to execute it. It felt really good to come out and get the win.”
HPCA, which pushed forward from the start, took the lead in the 23rd minute. Davis sent a free kick from the right side to the far post, where Mosier sharply redirected the ball into the net. In the 26th minute, the ball went up the right side and Foster eluded the defense and slid a shot into the left side for a 2-0 lead.
“I think we understood how they were defending from the first game,” Cox said. “They sent a player deep. So I think having someone on him just kind of opened it up for more for the midfield and we had more to play with.”
The Wildcats (8-4, 3-2), who dipped into third place behind the Cougars and first-place Calvary Day, had a couple noteworthy opportunities late in the half — including a nice combination run through the middle in the waning seconds. But their shots were either off the mark or stopped by the HPCA defense.
The teams were pretty even for much of the second half.
“I want to give High Point Christian and Austin all the credit,” Westchester coach Adam Schwartz said. “Their team played yesterday, and they were prepared. Franklin, Jackson, Seth and Brady (Hepner) — they were unbelievable tonight. They were difference makers, and they really played well.
“All the credit to them. And hopefully it’ll wake us up. We’ll go back to work on Monday and try to get ready for Calvary on Tuesday. … Going down two goals in a rivalry game — especially when they have good defenders — it’s just hard. They beat us to those balls early, and it was just hard to recover from that.”
The Cougars tacked on two final goals with the clock stopped at two minutes. Cox took the ball on the left side, wove through the defense and scored. Then, shortly thereafter, the ball went across to the right side for Davis — sealing HPCA’s second win in the teams’ last five meetings.
“Anytime you’re scoring goals it’s a good thing,” Beck said with a smile. “But we knew they were going to come with energy. They feed off that, and that’s where a lot of their success comes from. We talked about it in our pregame: You’ve got to come out, match that and better it.
“And obviously the more chances you put on net, the more you kind of take them out of their ability to steamroll through with the energy and intensity. So, once again, I think our guys brought it and matched it from the opening kick. I’m really pleased with the way we played tonight.”
Connor Bullard made eight saves in goal for the Cougars, who outshot the Wildcats 20-15. Grey Lunnen made eight saves for Westchester, which had won six of the previous seven meetings since the series between former rivals in the old PTAC cranked back up in earnest in 2017.
Both teams continue conference play Tuesday. HPCA plays at Caldwell, while Westchester travels to Calvary.
