Local roundup: St. Pauls, Red Springs fall in 1st round soccer matchups

Nov. 1—TEACHEY — After 80 scoreless minutes of regulation play, Wallace-Rose Hill finally struck for a goal during overtime against the St. Pauls boys soccer team Monday.

That goal was the difference in a 1-0 decision which eliminated St. Pauls in the first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A state playoffs.

"It was a pretty good game," St. Pauls coach Brent Martin said. "Wallace-Rose Hill probably had a little more athleticism and a little more speed than us, and if I had to be honest I would say a 1-0 result is probably fair. It's a deserved win for them; obviously it's disappointing for our team. But I'm definitely proud of our performance."

Wallace-Rose Hill (14-6-2), the No. 14 seed in the 2A East Region, scored on an overtime shot that simply found the hole in the defense of 19th-seeded St. Pauls (10-9-3).

"The guy was outside of the 18-(yard box) and takes a touch on his right foot, takes a shot, it goes between two of our defenders and it just trickles in on the left-hand side," Martin said. "It wasn't like a blistering shot or anything amazing, it was just one of those worms where gets a half step on two defenders, two center backs."

St. Pauls had a couple of good scoring opportunities late in regulation but were unable to convert, sending the game to extra time.

Wallace-Rose Hill avenged last year's first-round playoff result, a 1-0 loss to St. Pauls.

"We've tied the series with Wallace-Rose Hill and if the soccer gods play their cards right maybe we can get a third opportunity to swing it back in our favor next season," Martin said.

St. Pauls completed its season after finishing third in the Southeastern Athletic Conference.

"We made them work for it, it wasn't an easy game for them, and that's really all we can ask from our group," Martin said. "That's a good way for our seniors to go out, even though it's a loss ... and it'll definitely give us something optimistic to look forward to for next year."

Wallace-Rose Hill advances to face No. 3 Manteo in the second round Thursday.

North Johnston defeats Red Springs

The Red Springs boys soccer team suffered a 5-1 loss Monday at North Johnston in the first round of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs.

North Johnston (18-4-1), the No. 15 seed in the 2A East Region, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first half.

"We just started off really flat tonight," Red Springs coach William Judd said. "We got off the bus and it felt like we weren't ready. And when you start off slow like that against a team like that it's always hard to catch up."

Each team scored one goal in the second half; 18th-seeded Red Springs (8-6) got its goal from Carlos Garcia-Hernandez, who was assisted by Antonio Bello.

The Red Devils finished second in the Southeastern Athletic Conference this season; like St. Pauls, their result was a reverse of last year's first-round outcome, when Red Springs beat North Johnston 4-1.

"It was a pretty good season; we've just got to do a better job of committing ourselves in the month of August," Judd said.

North Johnston travels to No. 2 James Kenan in Thursday's second round.