Finally, The Offside Trap slips out of the office and into the bleachers for a soccer match.
One of the bigger games on the schedule last night was Jack Britt at Pinecrest. So I headed out to Southern Pines to check it out.
I had a good time, met some nice folks and learned a few things from Pinecrest’s 3-0 win over the Buccaneers:
1. It’s hard to be a goal keeper – Jack Britt keeper Bailey Mathias had already made three saves when she was called upon again in the 24th minute against Antonia Meyers, who had slipped past the Buccaneer back line. Mathias made a great save to deny Meyers, but collided with another Patriot player in the process. She left the game with a injury to her right forearm.
Jacklyn Carrillo, normally a defender, took a two-minute shift in goal before JV keeper Sloan Shank could be pulled off the bus, which was about to leave for Fayetteville, and forced into action.
Under the circumstances, I thought she did a pretty good job.
2. There’s a reason Pinecrest is good – The Patriots have developed quite a soccer program over there, piling up a 95-2-1 mark in league games since 2002. Last night’s win was No. 28 in a row in the MSEC, according to the good folks at the Southern Pines Pilot.
Watching them last night, it’s easy to see why they’ve been so successful.
Keeper Sarah Dejak commands the box well. She knows when to hold her position and when to come off her line. And the back four was cool and composed against a Britt side that showed plenty of energy and aggression in the attacking third.
Every time Rachael Ramey or some other Buc attacker got near the box, one or two Patriots were there to prevent any clean looks at Dejak’s goal.
In the midfield, Pinecrest moved the ball well in both 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 formations. They created a slew of chances, getting off 17 shots – 12 of which were on target.
And they’re deep, too. Abbey kept rotating in fresh players and there wasn’t much drop off when the subs came in.
3. You’ve got to score when you’re in control – For the first 10 minutes or so, Jack Britt was flying around the pitch. The Bucs were winning balls in the midfield, forcing the hosts back into their own defensive third.
But all that possession and all of that energy didn’t lead to any real threats on goal. Pinecrest weathered the storm and eventually took control of the game.
4. Set pieces matter – Goals one and two came from corner kicks for Pinecrest, and a perfect storm of events made for great scoring chances for the Pats.
You’ve got a goalie who’s already played in a JV match that came into the game without warming up, and her first significant action was defending a pair of corner kicks.
And, according to Coach Bunphithak, winning balls in the air has been a problem for his side all season.
On top of that, Pinecrest’s Rachel Dokich served in two great balls. The first, in the 29th minute, went over Shank and right on to the head of Keegan Cary, who duly banged it home from about five yards out for a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, another great service landed near the penalty spot where a Britt defender, trying to clear it out for another corner, put in in the net to make it 2-0.
That’s a big hill to climb against quality opposition.
5. Who stood out – Pinecrest’s third goal came on a nice header from Ally Parziale, and the entire back line for the Patriots played well. For Jack Britt, I came away impressed with the energy of Ramey and Osaro Obanor. Ramey did a lot of running as the lead forward for the Bucs while Obanor had a strong showing as a holding midfielder.
Below, I added the interviews from last night’s game:
Todd Abbey interview
Nat Bunphithak interview