After falling behind early, the North Moore soccer team's comeback bid against Gray Stone came up short as the Mustangs fell to the Knights 6-3 in Yadkin Valley Conference action Monday.

The Knights controlled the ball effectively for the entire first half and did not allow the Mustangs any chances for a scoring opportunity.

Gray Stone scored two early goals in the fifth and sixth minutes. The Knights' Hans Honer and Jake Wally took advantage of senior goalkeeper Jose Peralta playing out in the field for the Mustangs at the beginning of the game.

Late in the first half, stand-in goalkeeper Oliver Castrejon came out to grab a rolling ball but was unable to control it. This allowed Gray Stone's Axel Medina to open the lead even more. The late goal made the halftime score 3-0 in favor of the Knights.

The second half was more evenly matched.

As in the first half, the Knights would put a score on the board early when Honer put the ball into the net for Gray Stone two minutes into the half.

Although down, the Mustangs did not count themselves out. Senior Captain Jared McNeill would help rally his team by scoring a goal off a missed shot from Peralta.

From that point, the Mustangs showed a burst of energy that was missing from the first half.

Gray Stone tried to kill the Mustangs' enthusiasm as they came back with two goals of their own scored by Klay Rose and Colin Sullivan.

The two goals did not seem to stop the Mustangs' energy. They showed the same intensity throughout the second half and played to the final whistle.

Noe Ramirez scored the two final goals for North Moore. The first came off a Jared McNeill corner kick and the other was off an assist from McNeill.

"It was a little inspiration," Ramirez said of his two second-half goals. "Coach gave us a challenge at halftime. He challenged us to play harder and we met the challenge he told us after the game."

"Tonight I don't have to teach them, they taught themselves," coach Michael Shamberger said. "At the score of 6-1, we could have quit and threw in the towel, but we didn't. We started playing harder."

The Mustangs (4-3-1) will play at South Stanly on Wednesday.

Jonathan Bym is a senior at North Moore High School.