Wildcats beat Caldwell, earn share of PTAC title
Oct 13
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT – Westchester Country Day finished its regular season with a big celebration on its home field.
The Wildcats, needing a win to earn a share of the conference title, scored all three goals in the second half – including the final two just over a minute apart – to beat rival Caldwell 3-0 in their NCISAA Piedmont Triad Athletic 2A/3A/4A Conference boys soccer finale Friday night at Westchester’s Kennedy Field.
“It’s awesome,” Westchester coach Adam Schwartz said. “Losing eight seniors last year and having 11 seniors, these guys have worked really hard – since Aug. 6. It’s just great to do it on our home field, in front of our home fans on Senior Night. We just played really hard. All the work we put in all year, it came out tonight.”
George Culp scored two goals while Jacob Keshguerian scored one goal to lead the Wildcats (10-5 overall, 7-3 PTAC), who shared the championship for the PTAC – in its first year after the realignment of the old Triad Athletic and PACIS conferences – with Caldwell and Calvary Day.
Myles Patterson and Josiah Tomes each had an assist as the teams remained scoreless through halftime. It wasn’t until the 47th minute that Culp broke through, taking a pass ahead from Patterson, who controlled the ball in the offensive half, and sliding a contested shot past the goalkeeper.
“It was just really chippy and everyone was playing really aggressive,” said Culp, a sophomore forward who finished the regular season with 23 goals. “So, to get that one and kind of calm things down and give us some momentum was nice.”
The Eagles, who beat Westchester in a game resumed Monday in overtime, pressured hard for the tying goal in the following minutes. A free kick by the Wildcats in the 53rd minute bounded all the way back into their defensive half, leading to a flurry of chances for Caldwell and all-out defense by Westchester.
Then, a shot that was saved by Gavin Brumfield – who had a number of pivotal saves for the Wildcats down the stretch – led to a corner kick in the 60th minute that was just barely cleared off the goal line. The tying goal almost seemed inevitable until Westchester’s late outburst.
“We had a plan – their two main threats were Nos. 10 and 7,” Wildcats senior defender Reece Hetley said. “And we had the plan to have two guys follow them and man-mark. From there, it was just everyone working up – everyone working their hardest, from the defense through the midfield.”
In the 65th minute, Culp sent a corner kick in from the left side that curled in on goal and deflected off the goalkeeper and in. Seventy-three seconds later in the 66th minute Tomes made a run upfield, cut back against the defense and put a ball on net. The ball squirted free and Keshguerian finished along the goal line.
“I wasn’t really trying to shoot it,” Culp said with a laugh, describing his corner-kick goal. “I was just trying to put it close to the keeper. And I just saw it in the air and was like, ‘That has a chance,’ and it went in.”
“I feel like that second goal secured it almost for us,” Hetley said. “And if we could get one more after that, which we did, we could control the game. That second goal set the momentum for us and for them to get a little sloppy, because they wanted to come forward and score. We just needed to play smart, control it and pass around – which we did.”
Brumfield finished with 14 saves for Westchester, which finished with 15 shots against 18 for Caldwell. The Wildcats – who handed the Eagles, a 3A team, their first shutout since Aug. 28 – next set their sights on the NCISAA 2A playoffs, which will begin Tuesday after the seeds are set Sunday.
“We’ve won a couple 3A games – beating Forsyth Country Day, beating Calvary,” Schwartz said. “Beating Greensboro Day twice, which are two 4A wins. It’s huge. But just to win on Senior Night in front of our fans and all the energy and emotion after what happened at their place – and then James Morgan (who was out with a severe concussion) being able to start and finish was special.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com
Oct 13
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT – Westchester Country Day finished its regular season with a big celebration on its home field.
The Wildcats, needing a win to earn a share of the conference title, scored all three goals in the second half – including the final two just over a minute apart – to beat rival Caldwell 3-0 in their NCISAA Piedmont Triad Athletic 2A/3A/4A Conference boys soccer finale Friday night at Westchester’s Kennedy Field.
“It’s awesome,” Westchester coach Adam Schwartz said. “Losing eight seniors last year and having 11 seniors, these guys have worked really hard – since Aug. 6. It’s just great to do it on our home field, in front of our home fans on Senior Night. We just played really hard. All the work we put in all year, it came out tonight.”
George Culp scored two goals while Jacob Keshguerian scored one goal to lead the Wildcats (10-5 overall, 7-3 PTAC), who shared the championship for the PTAC – in its first year after the realignment of the old Triad Athletic and PACIS conferences – with Caldwell and Calvary Day.
Myles Patterson and Josiah Tomes each had an assist as the teams remained scoreless through halftime. It wasn’t until the 47th minute that Culp broke through, taking a pass ahead from Patterson, who controlled the ball in the offensive half, and sliding a contested shot past the goalkeeper.
“It was just really chippy and everyone was playing really aggressive,” said Culp, a sophomore forward who finished the regular season with 23 goals. “So, to get that one and kind of calm things down and give us some momentum was nice.”
The Eagles, who beat Westchester in a game resumed Monday in overtime, pressured hard for the tying goal in the following minutes. A free kick by the Wildcats in the 53rd minute bounded all the way back into their defensive half, leading to a flurry of chances for Caldwell and all-out defense by Westchester.
Then, a shot that was saved by Gavin Brumfield – who had a number of pivotal saves for the Wildcats down the stretch – led to a corner kick in the 60th minute that was just barely cleared off the goal line. The tying goal almost seemed inevitable until Westchester’s late outburst.
“We had a plan – their two main threats were Nos. 10 and 7,” Wildcats senior defender Reece Hetley said. “And we had the plan to have two guys follow them and man-mark. From there, it was just everyone working up – everyone working their hardest, from the defense through the midfield.”
In the 65th minute, Culp sent a corner kick in from the left side that curled in on goal and deflected off the goalkeeper and in. Seventy-three seconds later in the 66th minute Tomes made a run upfield, cut back against the defense and put a ball on net. The ball squirted free and Keshguerian finished along the goal line.
“I wasn’t really trying to shoot it,” Culp said with a laugh, describing his corner-kick goal. “I was just trying to put it close to the keeper. And I just saw it in the air and was like, ‘That has a chance,’ and it went in.”
“I feel like that second goal secured it almost for us,” Hetley said. “And if we could get one more after that, which we did, we could control the game. That second goal set the momentum for us and for them to get a little sloppy, because they wanted to come forward and score. We just needed to play smart, control it and pass around – which we did.”
Brumfield finished with 14 saves for Westchester, which finished with 15 shots against 18 for Caldwell. The Wildcats – who handed the Eagles, a 3A team, their first shutout since Aug. 28 – next set their sights on the NCISAA 2A playoffs, which will begin Tuesday after the seeds are set Sunday.
“We’ve won a couple 3A games – beating Forsyth Country Day, beating Calvary,” Schwartz said. “Beating Greensboro Day twice, which are two 4A wins. It’s huge. But just to win on Senior Night in front of our fans and all the energy and emotion after what happened at their place – and then James Morgan (who was out with a severe concussion) being able to start and finish was special.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com
