Nemesis Greenfield strikes early, eliminates WCDS

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 22, 2014 1:52 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

WILSON -- Don't concede an early goal.

But Steve Ellis' pre-match concerns surfaced quickly after kickoff.

Nemesis Greenfield struck in the sixth minute and Wayne Country Day played from behind during a season-ending, 6-2 loss in quarterfinal-round action the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A boys' soccer playoffs Tuesday evening.

"I don't know what it is, but the boys are kind of slow when they come here," said Ellis, whose team dropped a pair of one-goal decisions to the fourth-seeded Knights in regular-season play.

"I don't know if it was the occasion of being in the quarterfinal, but we were just second to every single ball when we didn't have it. When we did have it, we panicked and got rid of it quickly.

"It wasn't great at all."

The Knights (12-10-0) extended their win streak to nine and improved to 3-0 all-time against the Chargers in postseason play. Greenfield meets top-seeded Hickory Christian on Friday.

Kerr-Vance and The Burlington School meet in the other semifinal.

Greenfield intercepted the ball on the opening kickoff and created a fast-paced tempo that bothered Wayne Country Day. They constantly kicked it forward to Dwanya Sutton, who used his football-like frame to maintain possession and pressure the Chargers' defense outside the 18-yard box.

Sutton logged the first goal and finished with a hat trick (three goals).

Isaiah White, who played up top with Sutton, provided one goal. James Wells and Ryan Stone supplied one goal apiece for Greenfield, which has won 13 of 15 meetings against WCDS since 2008.

"They've got two lads up top who are just physical units," Ellis said. "That's all they've really got. This one was a little bit different and under different circumstances, it could have been even."

The physical and intensity-filled contest led to 31 fouls, five yellow cards and one red card. WCDS suffered two game ejections -- one on the coaching staff and the other on a player with 6-plus minutes remaining in regulation.

The frustration stemmed from the Chargers enduring hard-hit fouls that barely drew any attention from the midfield official and assistant referees. WCDS did receive a penalty kick in the 55th minute after Tony Townsend, who punched in a first-half goal on Jacob Magera's assist, drew a foul inside the 18.

Greenfield keeper Harrison Currin blocked Charlie Roethling's initial PK attempt, but Roethling followed the rebound and tucked it away to make it 3-2.

The Knights scored three consecutive goals.

"Conceding in the sixth minute forced us to chase to the game after that," Ellis said. "We got back into it before halftime and the momentum was with us. Then we gave up a sloppy third goal away, brought it back to 3-2 and then we gave a sloppy fourth goal away.

"As soon as the fourth goal went in, I knew we couldn't make it back after that."

The loss marked the final game for the Chargers' lone senior -- Danny Lee. Wayne Country Day concluded the year 13-7-1 overall.

"We had a good season," Ellis said.