Ravenscroft boys soccer still unbeaten, takes down NCISAA 2A champ St. David’s
Everything seemed to be working smoothly for Ravenscroft’s unbeaten boys soccer team throughout a 2-0 win over St. David’s Wednesday on the Ravens’ field.
It was nearly a perfect night, especially for sophomore Thompson Schollaert, knocking off the defending N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 2A champions. But the sophomore midfielder was denied a hat trick. His shot from 30 yards out with 8 minutes to play hit the left post.
“I thought it was going in,” Schollaert said.
His first two goals came midway through the first half as the Ravens improved to 8-0-1 in the non-conference match. St. David’s dropped to 3-4-1.
Ravenscroft capitalized on a substitution when Ernest Sewell was knocked out of the game midway through a scoreless first half.
“Were still getting to know each other, but I liked the goals we scored,” Ravenscroft coach Alix Charles said. “I liked how we were in the right position. That’s what we’ve been working on. We have some new players on this team. We’re not a young team, but we still need to jell as a unit.”
Turning point
Three combined saves by St. David’s senior goalie Nicholas Hogan and junior defender John Keegan five minutes into the second half prevented Ravenscroft from blowing open a 2-0 halftime score.
Hogan lunged to block one hard shot in front of the net that knocked him to the ground, but he scrambled to his knees to block the rebound shot. He was out of position for the next rebound attempt, but Keegan positioned himself in time with a body block to prevent a score.
They said it
“He’s a very good goalie,” Charles said of Hogan. “He made some great saves. We could have had four more goals.”
Three who made a difference
Hogan: He was busy beginning to end, finishing with 10 saves.
Ravenscroft’s Taylor Smith: The senior recorded an assist on the first goal. Schollaert took pass from Connor Gridley and passed to Smith. He advanced the ball and slid a pass to Schollaert for the goal.
Ravenscroft’s Emmanuel Petrov: He recorded the assist on the second goal, as Schollaert tapped in a chip pass from the freshman.
Needs work
“We have a young team,” St. David’s coach Jose Cornejo said. “We were ball watching, and when you do that you make mistakes and pay for it.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 9:05 PM with the headline "Ravenscroft boys soccer still unbeaten, takes down NCISAA 2A champ St. David’s."