Rosewood nips Spring Creek

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on November 3, 2005 2:05 PM

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Rosewood's 1-0 win over Spring Creek on Wednesday in the first round of the Class 1-A N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs won't go down as one of the Eagles' prettiest wins of 2005.

Simply, Rosewood survived and advanced on a chilly night at Branch Pope Field.

Eagles' senior Kyle Bunn's first-half goal on a header off of a corner kick by Elliott Lee proved to be the lone goal of the match as Rosewood (9-10) moves on to the second round and will travel to Manteo (16-2-3) on Saturday.

"It was a sloppy game on our part. We always seemed to kick it away when we had possession, and we didn't have a lot of movement forward. We were fortunate to get that one goal and hold on.

"We'll have to play much better on Saturday to win. I think the guys know they have to pick it up."

The win was the Eagles' third postseason victory in the last two seasons. Spring Creek finished the season at 5-6-1 overall under first-year coach Gordon Crocker.

Three minutes into the match, Lee's corner kick from the left side was perfectly placed to the back post as Bunn, who came up from his sweeper position, got in position, then headed the ball past Spring Creek goalie Manuel Moreno to make it 1-0.

Rosewood, which won two-of-three meetings against the Gators this year, had their fair share of chances to expand their lead, especially in the first half. But, the Eagles could not capitalize on several attempts from close range. At intermission, Rosewood owned a 6-3 advantage in shots and controlled most of the possession.

Spring Creek, which played a much more aggressive offensive style in the second frame, took control of the second half momentum in the early stages. Up front, Diego Rivera and Jose Ramirez each had shots around the Rosewood goal, but Eagle goalie Trevor Morris had several clutch saves in the early stages.

Shortly after a close miss by Ramirez hit the post, Rosewood was whistled for a foul inside the 18-yard box, seven minutes into the half -- awarding Spring Creek a penalty kick. Darwin Aldana shot the penalty kick high, just over the top bar, as the Gators failed to cash in on a golden opportunity to equalize.

"We had our chances in the second half, especially with the penalty kick," Crocker said. "I thought for sure we'd get that in."

From there, each team had several more chances each during the middle and late stages of the half, but never converted.

Spring Creek was whistled for five offsides in the second half, one negated a goal on a header with 19 minutes left.

"It seemed like in the first half, they (Spring Creek) were back in numbers, but in the second half they pushed up," Mitchell said of his opponent. "Trevor had some good saves and Kyle played well in the back. We were fortunate they never found the back of the net."

Rosewood outshot Spring Creek 11-8 overall and had five corners, four in the second half, to the Gators' none. Morris finished with five saves overall for Rosewood, while Moreno had four saves for Spring Creek.