Conquerors' rally comes up short

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 1, 2008 1:34 PM

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The Bulldogs' bite equaled their bark on Tuesday afternoon as Berean Christian defeated Faith Christian 3-2 in a N.C. Christian Schools Association Coastal Region 2-A conference soccer clash.

The game fit a familiar mold for the Conquerors.

"This seems to be our theme," said Faith Christian head coach John Corbett said. "We don't get going until we have given up two or three goals."

Following a scoreless first half, the Conquerors came out sluggish in the second half.

Berean took advantage.

Ben Spivey collected a deflection in the 42nd minute and deposited it in the Conquerors' net. Eight minutes later Spivey scored for the second time.

"Ten bad minutes put us behind," said Corbett. "The last few games Faith has beaten Faith, and that is tough to deal with."

Berean added a third goal in the 58th minute when Mark Davis found Ryan Usher with a one-touch pass inside the 18-yard box. Usher buried a shot, and seemingly put the final exclamation point on the contest.

However, a simple substitution woke the sleeping Conquerors.

Corbett moved Nick Gurley from his normal position at keeper to the midfield and the Faith offense responded.

In the 65th minute Gurley delivered on a penalty kick after teammate Chris Powell was tackled from behind in the 18-yard box.

"That penalty kick gave us a lot of energy," said Corbett. "The guys made some nice plays late in the game, but when you get behind 3-0 in the second half you are grasping at straws."

Powell found Seth Denlinger in the 75th minute to cap the scoring.

Both teams tallied 17 shots on the afternoon. Berean earned five corner kicks to Faith's four.

"Those last ten minutes were the longest ten minutes of the season," said Berean head coach Dwayne Smith. "We took a tough loss on Monday, so to come back tonight and win shows a lot about the character of this team."

Gurley tallied eight saves before being moved to the midfield. Vincent Brown scooped up three additional saves in relief.

Faith Christian fell to 4-5 overall and 3-5 in Coastal Region 2-A play on the season. The Conquerors visit Neuse Christian on Friday.