Patriots Advance to State Soccer Semis

Richard Palmer Photo by Donna Ford

As of Monday, November 14, 2011

For the third straight season the Patriot boys will be playing in the state 4-A soccer semifinals.

Led by an inspired effort from all-state senior Richard Palmer, the Patriots defeated the Laney Buccaneers 4-1 Saturday at Holliday Stadium in Wilmington. Palmer had two goals in the contest including the neutralizer on a brilliant strike in the 12th minute.

After intermission the teams returned to the pitch with the match tied at 1-1. Then, 6:44 later, Dane Nelsen scored the game winner on an assist from Taylor Morton. Hayden Little found the back of the net to finish off a great bit of Patriot one-two play making in the 62nd minute, pushing the Pinecrest lead to 3-1. Both Palmer and Morton were credited with assists on the play.

Palmer then capped off the scoring with his second goal, on an assist from Little, in the 71st minute. With the victory, Pinecrest (22-2-2) advances to next week's East Regional championship for a meeting with Green Hope in Cary, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Green Hope (23-1, Tri-Nine Conference first seed) is the top-ranked 4-A team in the eurosportscoreboard.com poll. The Falcons clipped Fuquay-Varina 4-3 in Saturday's other sectional championship match to advance to the final four.

Laney, which was ranked fourth in the poll, finished the season with a record of 17-3.

Pinecrest, currently ranked eighth in the most current 4-A eurosportscoreboard.com poll (published on Nov. 8), enters the third and final week of the 2011 soccer playoffs unbeaten in its last 24 matches. The Patriots are 12-2 over their past three postseason campaigns, including their current four-match playoff winning streak.

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RD28327 1 year, 6 months ago

Pinecrest takes on Green Hope on the road next week in the East Region 4A Final. Time and date TBD.

drefleury 1 year, 6 months ago

GOOOOO PAAAATS!!!!!! Good stuff Todd.

pgericson 1 year, 6 months ago

According to the Green Hope High School web site the game is at 6PM on the 16th. Pinecrest's site calls your attention to the game at New Bern last Wednesday... go figure!

teufelhunden 1 year, 6 months ago

GO PATRIOTS-you guys are awesome!!!

member 1 year, 6 months ago

pgericson--You used to work at Pinecrest, right? Just curious- who mintains the website there (not looking for a name)? Is it an Asst. Principal, administrative assistant, media specialist or teacher? Whoever it is, I would hope they receive compensation for it. It seems like a pretty big job. If they aren't getting paid to do it...well, that might explain why it isn't updated on the weekends. I have to say, I like their format a lot better now with the tabs at the top instead of an endless list of them down the left side like it used to be.

member 1 year, 6 months ago

Kudos to the team and coaches. I hope they go all the way.

member 1 year, 6 months ago

I just received a phone call from a parent of one of the players. The game is TOMORROW (Tuesday) at 7 pm at Green Hope. Looks like Green Hope's website wasn't exactly correct either. I'm sure The Pilot will be updating their story soon to include the details. Go Pinecrest!

RD28327 1 year, 6 months ago

The NCHSAA 4A soccer bracket also says Wednesday @ 7P. Looks like everyone needs to get on the same page of sheet music here .....

fwm2 1 year, 6 months ago

@RD28327

Just as it states above, as well as in our near-noon web announcement with the header: PHS State Soccer Semifinal Set for Tuesday The NCHSAA 4-A East Regional championship soccer match is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Green Hope High School in Cary.

The date/time the NCHSAA has ion its bracket is the provisoonal time/date the match must be played if both teams don't agree on the same match time and day.