Falcons' run ends on penalty kicks

WILMINGTON -- The fourth time wasn't the charm either for Green Hope. In fact, it probably will go down as the toughest one to take.

New Hanover defeated Green Hope 2-1 on penalty kicks Wednesday night in the 4-A Eastern Regional boys soccer championship on Jurgensen-Gabriel Field at Legion Stadium, ending the Falcons' season at the same spot it has ended in four of the past five seasons: one win from the N.C. High School Athletic Association state championship match.

The Wildcats (23-2-1) will play Charlotte Myers Park (24-0-0) in Saturday's championship at the Curtis and Jackie Dail Soccer Stadium on the N.C. State campus in Raleigh at 7 p.m. Myers Park beat West Forsyth 1-0 on Tuesday night in the Western Regional final.

Green Hope, which will lose 13 seniors, finishes its season with a 19-4-2 record.

"We possessed the ball for more than 30 minutes inside of their 18 [penalty area] and just couldn't finish anything," Falcons coach Andrew Chadwick said. "We missed a couple of good chances, and it just started to turn into one of those nights. It got to the point that I felt like we could have played until tomorrow and not scored."

The Falcons outshot the Wildcats 10-4.

"They [Green Hope] controlled the ball so much," New Hanover coach Al Pastore said. "The reason we were able to stay in it for so long tonight was the work ethic and passion these kids have."

New Hanover converted on all four of its penalty kicks after the teams played 110 minutes of playing time to 1-1. The Wildcats' Jeff Hochull, Ross Tomaselli, Parker Artis and Murphy McFarland converted.

Green Hope's Martin Murphy, a North Carolina recruit, opened the shootout with a goal, but New Hanover junior goalie Clayton Adams stopped the Falcons' next two shots, which were low. With the Wildcats up 3-1, Jared Girard made his shot to keep Green Hope's season alive for a few moments. But McFarland followed with his winning kick.

The Wildcats led for more than 40 minutes of regulation.

New Hanover went up 1-0 just 11 minutes in on a goal by Tom Hicks. Hicks nailed home a rolling cross through the box from Brannon Blanke, a Clemson recruit. Falcons goalie Alex Long, who will go to the University of South Carolina, dove at the cross and got a hand on it but couldn't keep it out of the path of Hicks.