BOYS' SOCCER: WCDS advances to semifinals

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on October 22, 2016 11:24 PM

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In Saturday's quarterfinal-round playoff match between Wayne Country Day and Ridgecroft, Rams' head coach Dominic Ross constantly shouted, 'recover, recover!'

And for the first several minutes of the match, Ridgecroft's defense did manage to recover.

But WCDS -- the No.1 seed and defending N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A state champion -- can be contained but for so long. The Chargers methodically wore down the Rams' defense and scored two second-half goals to pull out a 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon.

"(We) were a little nervous in the first 10 minutes or so," said WCDS head coach Steve Ellis. "But when we settled, we grew into the game. We were never out of control, and we just dominated in the second half."

Ridgecroft, which boasted a 14-2-2 record as the No. 9 seed, got on the board first when a shot from beyond the penalty box soared past the hands of WCDS goalkeeper Thomas Sumner.

Meanwhile, the Chargers' Nehemiya Shaw, Hunter Bryson, Luis Lopez and Noah Adkins collectively applied pressure on Ridgecroft's defense.

In the 38th minute, Adkins had the best look at the goal with a free kick inside the box. But the shot missed wide left.

However, just 30 seconds later, the senior midfielder dribbled through traffic and zoomed the ball to the left corner of the net to tie the match.

"They just needed to be confident and believe in themselves," Ellis said. "We knew if we shot on target that the ball would go in."

The Chargers took that message to heart in the second half.

In the 45th minute, Bryson charged into the box, but his attempt was stifled by Ridgecroft's goalkeeper. Shaw was perfectly positioned, and he easily tapped in the deflection to give WCDS a 2-1 lead.

Eleven minutes later, Shaw again threatened inside the box. As he tried to gather the ball, the Rams' goalie tackled him from behind, which led to a penalty kick.

Adkins safely slammed the penalty kick into the back of the net for the Chargers' third goal of the game.

WCDS had over 15 shots and 10 corner kicks while the Rams mustered only seven shots and four corner kicks.

The Rams' Jasper Krueger -- who has scored 60 goals this season -- was stifled by WCDS' defense and forced to fight for every ball.

"(The defense) never stopped," Ellis said. "Nick Fletcher man-marked (Krueger), and he didn't do anything. Even being sick, Fletcher just kept him at bay. And our makeshift back line just grew in confidence as the game went on."

The Chargers play host to either Cape Fear Christian or Lee Christian on Tuesday.

With the quick turnaround, Ellis said the focus of Monday's practice will depend on the opponent. But the Chargers do have two advantages heading into the next game -- the return of Ben Cohen and home field advantage.

"At least the game's at home. The other team has to get on the bus and drive here," Ellis said. "(Ben) Cohen was missing because his mom was getting married so that will give us another attack. So we do have other options to counter what the other team will do."