By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Cold weather soccer fans got their money’s worth on Nov. 11 at Jack Groce Stadium. Visiting No. 5-seeded Mount Tabor and No. 4-seeded host Watauga battled to a 2-2 draw in regulation, but the Pioneers claimed the night with 59.8 seconds remaining in overtime when sophomore midfielder Maddrey Long hammered home a goal to take the 3-2 win.
With the victory, Watauga advances to the fourth round of the NCHSAA 6A state playoffs. They will face No. 1 seeded A.C. Reynolds, a Round 3 winner over No. 8 Alexander Central on Nov. 11.
Watauga seemed to own the visiting Spartans in the first half, scoring a pair of goals midway through the opening period to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.
The first goal was scored by David Ganley, who started the sequence with a centering pass from the right side which senior striker Asher Hampton quickly returned. Ganley powered the ball with his left foot into the upper right corner of the net for the Pioneers’ opening salvo.
For the second goal just a few minutes later, a long throw-in across the field from the right side to the left by Miller Hankins found Koa Lancaster all alone, some 35 yards out from the goal and 10 yards in from the left sideline. A quick start down the left side past a Spartan defender put Lancaster in space, with an opening to make a centering pass. Lucas Hamilton didn’t hesitate, using his right foot for a one-touch shot to the upper left corner.
If Pioneer fans thought they had a comfortable halftime lead, it turned out they didn’t. The Spartans’ junior forward Yuto Shiozawa found a loose ball in front of the right post and hammered it to the left side of the net to narrow the Pioneer advantage.
A few minutes later, Mount Tabor’s freshman midfielder Graham Francis tied the game by cleaning up a messy ball some 15 yards out from the left post, then scooted it past Pioneer goalkeeper Solomon Triplett.
The game was as close as the score indicated, the two 6A adversaries almost a mirror of each other in their style of play: quick, short one- and two-touch passes with possession and adaptive pressure on defense.
After the first 10-minuter overtime period remained scoreless, it appeared the second would end that way, too — until Long’s goal off an alert pass by Hampton with 59.8 seconds remaining.
The 6A West semifinal match will be hosted by the higher seeded (No. 1) A.C. Reynolds in Asheville, tentatively scheduled for Thursday evening, Nov. 13.
