North Johnston blasts North Pitt, grabs No. 2 ECP soccer seed

North Johnston drilled North Pitt 6-1 Thursday night on the road to grab a tie for second place in the Eastern Plains 2A Conference boys soccer race.

But just as important was the decision the Panthers’ seniors made before the game. Knowing a win would leave them facing a coin flip for the second state playoff seed in the conference, North coach Jody Edwards let the seniors decided what they would call if they won before the match.

“It was a great team win,” Edwards said. “We had a coin flip for 2nd seed and I let my seniors decide on what to call since this is their team. They voted heads, which was correct, so they get the credit for getting it right! It was a total team effort.

The Panthers (19-4-1 overall) finished the regular season with a 7-3 conference mark, tying with North Pitt. But North Johnston won the coin flip for the No. 2 seed after Thursday’s match.

Ian Walston, one of the state’s top goal-scorers this season, led the Panthers’ offense with two goals and two assists. Tyler Jackson, Jeremiah Conley and Hugo Ramirez also scored for North Johnston.

Ricardo Padilla-Sanchez, Chase Davis, Ramirez and Jackson had one assist each.

Senior goalie Max Kirby made 10 saves in the match for North Johnston.

“It was a total team effort: five players scored goals and five players getting assists,” Edwards said. “Max Kirby had several key saves at goal for us. Our midfielders did well controlling and moving the ball around. We’re still missing three players due to injuries, with two out the rest of the season.”

North Johnston enters this week’s playoffs having won five of its last six matches. The Panthers have tied the school record for wins in a season and would become the first team in school history to reach the 20-win plateau if they can win in the first round of the playoffs.

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "North Johnston blasts North Pitt, grabs No. 2 ECP soccer seed."