East Chapel Hill stays atop PAC-6 soccer with win against Northern Durham
Heading into the final week of the regular season, East Chapel Hill boys soccer is right where they want to be.
The Wildcats are tied for first place in the PAC-6 conference with co-leader Cardinal Gibbons coming to town on Monday.
The Wildcats (13-2-3, 9-1 in the PAC-6) polished off Northern Durham 5-1 at Wildcats Stadium on Wednesday night. Quinn Albrecht finished with two goals and an assist. East scored the game-winner with 18:07 remaining when centerback Max Feldman headed in an inswinging corner from Porter Alexander.
After East started strong in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, Northern (12-8, 6-5) notched the equalizer when Mario Orozco whistled a ball over East goalkeeper Lee Folger. The Knights’ Fabian Martinez was credited with an assist.
“I thought we were winning every ball those first minutes,” said East coach Austin Collins. “That goal gave them a little bit of momentum. We were able to step up and get over the hump, win some balls again, counterattack and score some goals”
East tallied three goals in the final 5:00. Jeffrey Solis laced a shot past Northern goalkeeper Carlos Salazar with 4:49 remaining. Albrecht added his second goal off a deflection off Salazar. With four seconds remaining, Austin Norton tipped one over Salazar off an assist from Solis.
Turning Point
Minutes after Orozco tied the game, East’s Christian Sweeney won a 50-50 ball to set up an East corner. That led to Feldman’s game-winner from Alexander. “Christian was winning a lot of balls in the second half that helped set the tempo,” said Collins.
They Said It
“It’s not a derby game yet,” said Collins about the showdown with Gibbons on Monday night. “The winner of this game will win the conference, more than likely, and the loser will get second place. So there’s all to play for. At the start of the season, we wanted to be in first or tied for first going into the last Gibbons game. We got that.”
Three Who Mattered:
Quinn Albrecht, East: The leading scorer for the Wildcats notches two goals and an assist. He now has 13 goals and eight assists on the season.
Jeffrey Solis, East: Registered his first assist of the season on the final goal of the game by Norton. Also scored his third goal with 4:49 remaining.
Christian Sweeney, East: Alternated between left back and left midfielder to win several balls and disrupt several Northern scoring attempts.
Feeling the Impact
The entire PAC-6 regular season chase boils down to Monday night with East Chapel Hill hosting Cardinal Gibbons. Both teams are 9-1 in conference play. The Wildcats captured the first game on penalty kicks after playing to a scoreless tie in regulation against the Crusaders.
Meanwhile, Northern falls a game behind Jordan for the third and final playoff spot in the PAC-6. The two teams split the regular season series. Northern hosts Gibbons next Wednesday to close the regular season.
This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 11:33 AM with the headline "East Chapel Hill stays atop PAC-6 soccer with win against Northern Durham."