Princeton "Brushes" aside Rosewood in soccer

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on April 15, 2015 1:48 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

As the skies cleared and the rain let up, girls' soccer teams from Princeton and Rosewood trickled out of the locker rooms and back onto the field.

The Bulldogs returned to the field looking revitalized after an unenthusiastic first 20 minutes. The Eagles probably would have been better off asking to reschedule the game.

With an adjusted game plan, Princeton defeated its Carolina 1-A Conference archrival, 6-1, at Branch Pope Field on Tuesday evening.

Rosewood took a 1-0 lead on Lexi Mercer's goal in the 25th minute. Princeton (8-2-0 overall, 4-1-0 CC) answered 15 minutes later when Madison Atkins fired a shot that bounced off the keeper's gloves and rolled into the back of the net.

The teams entered halftime tied at 1-1.

The Bulldogs pulled ahead with a goal in the 50th minute from Altheia Balageo. After a near-miss off the post from Mercer, the floodgates opened -- this time, metaphorically.

In a span of 15 minutes, Princeton scored four times.

Jessica Brush started it off with a shot from 20 yards out that went over the keepers head. Four minutes later, Balageo got her second goal of the game, again knocking in an easy, close-range shot. Jordan Johnson scored from 10 yards out in the 76th minute before Brush put the finishing touches on the offensive explosion with a beautiful shot from 30 yards out that dropped in right behind the keeper.

"There was definitely a transition between the first half and the second half," PHS head coach Morgan Brush said. "We figured out how they played in the first half and then we exploited their weaknesses in the second half."

The Bulldogs controlled possession for most of the second half. The Eagles -- or Mercer, more accurately -- couldn't capitalize on the few chances they had. Princeton controlled possession with crisp passing, took time off of the clock and neutralized Rosewood's counter-attacking abilities.

The rain delay made the difference.

"It was a physical game coming out in the first half, so we came out and tried pull everyone down," Brush said. "(During the break) we went over everything that we needed to do to win this game and beat this team. It worked out."

Brush noticed that Rosewood couldn't keep up with the Bulldogs -- both on and off the ball.

"(Rosewood) wasn't used to those kind of movements," Brush said. "Passing and moving off the ball, they just couldn't adapt to it."

Despite being soaked to the bone, the league-leading Bulldogs came away with an impressive and important win against a top 1-A school on the road.

"It feels absolutely amazing," Brush said. "It was well deserved by these girls and hopefully they'll continue their season like this. "We need to continue playing at the high level we played at today. We need to communicate more and talk more."

Princeton heads to James Kenan on Friday. Rosewood entertains Hobbton on Thursday.