Can’t touch this
PK, free kick doom Lady Cycs in 2-1 loss to WCD in CPIC finals
By Jimmy Lewis
Staff Writer
Much like the first meeting between Community Christian School and Wayne Country Day this week, Lady Cyclones junior stopper Whitney Bissette had one job in Friday’s rematch for the 1-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference championship.
She was to shadow Wayne Country Day sophomore striker Langley Barnes on every blade of the CCS pitch. Or, in more traditional soccer parlance, man mark Barnes.
For the most part, Bissette carried out that assignment in credible fashion.
However, no on-ball defense is permitted on penalty kicks or free kicks.
That’s where Barnes sharpened her incisors against the Lady Cyclones in this pivotal match for North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A playoff seeding. For the second time this week, the teams played a scoreless opening half. But this time, Barnes converted a penalty kick in the 45th minute and put away a free kick from distance in the 72nd, lifting the top-seeded Lady Chargers to a 2-1 victory.
CCS, which defeated the Lady Chargers by the same score Monday, fell to 10-5-1. Wayne County Day improved to 11-3-1 and is expected to be in line for one of the four coveted “double-bye” positions when the NCISAA meets to seed its spring postseason sports Sunday afternoon in Greensboro. Both teams shared the CPIC regular-season title.
“I think the PK really hurt our whole mindset on the game,” Bissette said. “We thought that we didn’t have a chance after that, and that’s not the mindset that we need to have. So going forward, I hope we can train enough to not have that mindset.”
Despite the scoreless line at halftime, the Lady Cyclones outplayed Wayne Country Day in the first half and generated two dangerous opportunities in the final few minutes.
In the 34th minute, junior Ashley Hartsfield received a through ball in the box and despite being defended, had a look at an open net. But Hartsfield placed her foot into a chip shot that just grazed over the crossbar for a goal kick.
The second opportunity, in the 36th, was more controversial.
With the ball careening towards the end line, CCS junior Morgan Lane sprinted towards Wayne Country Day keeper Jala Holloman. Holloman appeared to bobble the ball with Lane in the vicinity, and Lane gathered the ball and kicked it into the net as a whistle blew. The center referee ruled that Holloman had possessed the ball long enough to be in control, disallowed the goal and awarded the Lady Chargers a free kick from the spot.
CCS head coach Monica Mills didn’t vociferously argue the call from the bench, but later disagreed.
“I thought it was a goal,” she said. “I didn’t really think the keeper had the ball; I thought she lost it. I don’t think it should have come down to that for us. I think we should have put more away and we shouldn’t have had those two mistakes. At the end, I think we beat ourselves.”
That assessment wasn’t without merit.
Wayne Country Day, which finished with seven corner kicks — all in the second half — cashed in on its second opportunity in the 44th minute. A bounding ball in the box off the corner located the hand of CCS eighth grader Olivia Walker, giving the Lady Chargers a PK. Barnes, proclaimed the CPIC Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after the match, easily stuck it in the lower right-hand corner.
The Lady Chargers continued to not allow CCS sustained possession in its offensive third and drew a foul roughly 35 yards from the Lady Cyclones’ net with 8:10 to play. Wayne Country Day dispatched Barnes to take it, and her shot off the right side took one bounce in the box and went over the head of junior keeper Emily Boyette, giving the Lady Chargers a 2-0 cushion. Boyette had one save in not giving up a goal in the run of play. Holloman was credited with four saves.
“We had a little spell in the first half which Community dominated,” Wayne Country Day head coach Steve Ellis said. “As soon as we got back on track after that six or seven minutes, we were pretty secure. We nullified the threats and in the second half we dominated, really.”
CCS did make it interesting inside of the final minute. Hartsfield, catching Holloman well off her line, launched a long shot towards the Wayne Country Day net and got it to go in for the final margin with 43 seconds remaining. But the Lady Cyclones could mount nothing of consequence before the final whistle blew.
Lane battled with Wayne Country Day junior Jasmine Jones for much of the match, but could not find much room to operate.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Bissette said. “But we’re going to go into the next game with even more hustle and intensity. And hopefully, we’ll make it as far as we would have with the double bye.”
Junior Anna Jackson, Bissette, junior Olivia Bullard, Hartsfield, Lane and freshman Lydia Renfrow were named all-tournament for CCS.
PK, free kick doom Lady Cycs in 2-1 loss to WCD in CPIC finals
By Jimmy Lewis
Staff Writer
Much like the first meeting between Community Christian School and Wayne Country Day this week, Lady Cyclones junior stopper Whitney Bissette had one job in Friday’s rematch for the 1-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference championship.
She was to shadow Wayne Country Day sophomore striker Langley Barnes on every blade of the CCS pitch. Or, in more traditional soccer parlance, man mark Barnes.
For the most part, Bissette carried out that assignment in credible fashion.
However, no on-ball defense is permitted on penalty kicks or free kicks.
That’s where Barnes sharpened her incisors against the Lady Cyclones in this pivotal match for North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A playoff seeding. For the second time this week, the teams played a scoreless opening half. But this time, Barnes converted a penalty kick in the 45th minute and put away a free kick from distance in the 72nd, lifting the top-seeded Lady Chargers to a 2-1 victory.
CCS, which defeated the Lady Chargers by the same score Monday, fell to 10-5-1. Wayne County Day improved to 11-3-1 and is expected to be in line for one of the four coveted “double-bye” positions when the NCISAA meets to seed its spring postseason sports Sunday afternoon in Greensboro. Both teams shared the CPIC regular-season title.
“I think the PK really hurt our whole mindset on the game,” Bissette said. “We thought that we didn’t have a chance after that, and that’s not the mindset that we need to have. So going forward, I hope we can train enough to not have that mindset.”
Despite the scoreless line at halftime, the Lady Cyclones outplayed Wayne Country Day in the first half and generated two dangerous opportunities in the final few minutes.
In the 34th minute, junior Ashley Hartsfield received a through ball in the box and despite being defended, had a look at an open net. But Hartsfield placed her foot into a chip shot that just grazed over the crossbar for a goal kick.
The second opportunity, in the 36th, was more controversial.
With the ball careening towards the end line, CCS junior Morgan Lane sprinted towards Wayne Country Day keeper Jala Holloman. Holloman appeared to bobble the ball with Lane in the vicinity, and Lane gathered the ball and kicked it into the net as a whistle blew. The center referee ruled that Holloman had possessed the ball long enough to be in control, disallowed the goal and awarded the Lady Chargers a free kick from the spot.
CCS head coach Monica Mills didn’t vociferously argue the call from the bench, but later disagreed.
“I thought it was a goal,” she said. “I didn’t really think the keeper had the ball; I thought she lost it. I don’t think it should have come down to that for us. I think we should have put more away and we shouldn’t have had those two mistakes. At the end, I think we beat ourselves.”
That assessment wasn’t without merit.
Wayne Country Day, which finished with seven corner kicks — all in the second half — cashed in on its second opportunity in the 44th minute. A bounding ball in the box off the corner located the hand of CCS eighth grader Olivia Walker, giving the Lady Chargers a PK. Barnes, proclaimed the CPIC Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after the match, easily stuck it in the lower right-hand corner.
The Lady Chargers continued to not allow CCS sustained possession in its offensive third and drew a foul roughly 35 yards from the Lady Cyclones’ net with 8:10 to play. Wayne Country Day dispatched Barnes to take it, and her shot off the right side took one bounce in the box and went over the head of junior keeper Emily Boyette, giving the Lady Chargers a 2-0 cushion. Boyette had one save in not giving up a goal in the run of play. Holloman was credited with four saves.
“We had a little spell in the first half which Community dominated,” Wayne Country Day head coach Steve Ellis said. “As soon as we got back on track after that six or seven minutes, we were pretty secure. We nullified the threats and in the second half we dominated, really.”
CCS did make it interesting inside of the final minute. Hartsfield, catching Holloman well off her line, launched a long shot towards the Wayne Country Day net and got it to go in for the final margin with 43 seconds remaining. But the Lady Cyclones could mount nothing of consequence before the final whistle blew.
Lane battled with Wayne Country Day junior Jasmine Jones for much of the match, but could not find much room to operate.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Bissette said. “But we’re going to go into the next game with even more hustle and intensity. And hopefully, we’ll make it as far as we would have with the double bye.”
Junior Anna Jackson, Bissette, junior Olivia Bullard, Hartsfield, Lane and freshman Lydia Renfrow were named all-tournament for CCS.
