Franklin Academy tops Raleigh Charter soccer in OT

Franklin Academy’s Nick Hughes offered a simple explanation for scoring seven goals in two wins over Raleigh Charter this season.

“They’re our rival,” he said. “They beat us for league last year. We were motivated this year.”

Hughes scored all four goals in a 4-3 overtime win Monday night at WakeMed Soccer Park’s Field No. 2. A month ago he contributed a hat trick to Franklin’s 5-1 win in the first of their two North Central Athletic 1A matches.

This time Franklin had to come from behind to beat the Phoenix.

The Patriots trailed 3-1 before they forced a 3-3 tie in regulation. Hughes’ first goal was a penalty kick 10 minutes into the second half to trim the deficit to 2-1. With the Patriots trailing 3-1, he added a pair of breakaway goals with five minutes to play and two minutes remaining.

The game-winner came four minutes into the second overtime. He turned on a pass from Branden Motto and found the net.

“He has single-handily shut us down,” Raleigh Charter coach Steve Grosso said. “We know how talented he is.”

With the victory, Franklin (14-0-2 overall, 11-0-1 NCA1A) preserved its hold on the conference lead. Otherwise, a Franklin loss combined with an earlier tie against Voyager Academy would have dropped the Wake Forest school into second place a half-game behind Raleigh Charter (11-5-0, 10-2-0 NCA1A).

Raleigh Charter started out strongly seeking to avenge its 5-1 loss. The Phoenix took leads of 1-0 early in the first half on a goal by sophomore Drew DiSerafino and 2-0 early in the second half on a score by senior Tyler Foland.

Turning point

Hughes’s goal to trim the deficit to 3-2 on a breakaway with five minutes to play suddenly gave the Patriots’ chances to force a tie. When Hughes found himself on another breakaway with two minutes remaining, he converted the tying goal.

They said it

“A hat trick plus one,” Hughes said when asked the soccer term for scoring four goals in a match.

Three who mattered

Ben Voorhis, Franklin: The junior goalie was strong throughout regulation and overtime.

Jack Adams, Raleigh Charter: The junior defender played a strong game shadowing Hughes and Motto until Hughes finally broke loose.

Jackson Bronack, Raleigh Charter: The sophomore scored for a 3-1 lead.

Needs work

“We’ve got to work on maintaining control of the lead and closing out a game,” Grosso said. “We have to work on our communication.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 7:33 PM with the headline "Franklin Academy tops Raleigh Charter soccer in OT."