Green Hope girls soccer edges Fuquay-Varina in overtime

Green Hope defeated Fuquay-Varina girls soccer 3-2 in overtime for sole possession of first place in the Southwest Wake Athletic Conference Wednesday night, avenging the Falcons’ only loss of the season.

N&O No. 6 Green Hope (8-1-2, 8-1-1) scored in the first few seconds of the second half of overtime in much the same it scored in the first minutes of the second half against N&O No. 5 Fuquay-Varina (8-4-1, 7-3-1).

Green Hope opened with a lot of pressure, Fuquay-Varina lost someone in the box, and the Falcons scored quickly. Grace Wagner had the game-winner in the 91st minute.

“It kind of bounced around in the box a little bit,” Wagner said. “We came out a lot stronger than them. We were ready.”

The reward for Green Hope’s readiness is a two-game lead in the SWAC.

First half goals were scored by Fuquay’s Madi Smith and Green Hope’s Anna Bevan.

The Falcons opened up the second half as the aggressors. Freshman Izzy Brown slotted in a go-ahead, 42nd-minute goal after a Bengals turnover.

“They made mistakes and we took advantage of them,” Brown said.

Fuquay had the answer just three minutes later as Kristina Sedivy scored in the box as a Green Hope defender fell down.

They said it

“It was a tight game between two really good teams. We had trouble clearing the ball at times and they put us under a lot of pressure. I think overall it was a pretty even match, and we just fell on the wrong end of it today.” – Fuquay-Varina coach Nic Acosta.

Looking ahead

Three weeks left in the girls soccer regular season, each team has six conference games left. In the nine-team SWAC, only Apex Friendship and Cary have fewer than six overall wins. Only Green Hope has more than seven.

Green Hope still has red-hot Athens Drive (twice), Middle Creek and Panther Creek.

“We’re just hoping to continue to be competitive,” Green Hope coach Stacy Lamb said.

Fuquay still has Holly Springs, Middle Creek, Athens Drive and Panther Creek.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 9:33 PM with the headline "Green Hope girls soccer edges Fuquay-Varina in overtime."