Goals matter more than scorelines, according to Catawba Ridge head boys’ soccer coach Philip McCarter.
The Copperheads overcame a slow opening 10 minutes before firing four goals past Fort Mill in the teams’ opening Region 3-5A game Tuesday, March 10 at The Pit.
Junior defender Dawson Forrest smacked a 30-yard shot to open the scoring, junior Andres Castro doubled the lead minutes before halftime, while freshman defender Benjamin Holtzclaw and junior striker Christian White both scored in the second half to ice the 4-0 win over Catawba Ridge’s crosstown rival.
“There were a lot of nerves on both teams,” McCarter said. “But after that, both teams kind of settled into a rhythm, and we could get our game going once we had the ball. I felt like we had our advantages, and where we could capitalize on our strengths.”
Fort Mill opened the game with several promising chances in the first 15 minutes. Junior Luke Clarkson had a chance from a near-post corner, but his header flew over the Catawba Ridge crossbar.
Forrest opened the scoring for Catawba Ridge in the 20th minute with a screaming long-range shot. Senior Daniel Pranjkic was dispossessed on his way to goal, but the ball fell kindly to Forrest, who made no mistake from 30 yards out with a right-footed shot that beat Fort Mill goalkeeper Andrew Wirtz at his far post.
Castro doubled the Copperheads lead just three minutes before halftime. Sophomore Declan Hogan was tackled near the six-yard box, but the rebound squeezed out to Castro nearby, who needed just one touch to settle before striking a hard shot past Wirtz’s left hand to give Catawba Ridge a 2-0 lead heading into the halftime break.
Fort Mill head coach Henry Kalungi said his team had “heavy legs” following an extended two-week break between games, and said his team couldn’t move the way they needed to compete.
“As coaches, we learn, coming into games like today, we need that fitness,” he said. “We’ll watch the film and see where we fell short. There was a lot of good stuff, but we made simple mistakes, gave away goals. We want to look at that, and I think we should be fine.”
Fort Mill’s Gabriel Solis smacked the Catawba Ridge post soon after the break, sending Copperheads goalkeeper Noah Ramkissoon sprawling to his right.
But Catawba Ridge extended the lead soon after through Holtzclaw. The defender cut inside from the left wing and fired a shot past Wirtz into the far corner in the 47th minute.
Junior Carter Eppes flashed a one-touch shot in the 56th minute that came close, and Cameron Kubitz had a nicely-played half-volley a few minutes later, but Fort Mill couldn’t find a way to cut into the deficit.
White provided the final dagger with his long-range effort in the 66th minute to give Catawba Ridge a four-goal lead.
“Luckily, we put the ball in the back of the net,” McCarter said. “It really is the difference in games. Sometimes, shots just don’t fall, but tonight, our shots fell. I felt like we did a good job of outworking our opponent.”
This is the first meeting between the two local rivals this year. Fort Mill and Catawba Ridge will meet at Bob Jones Stadium on Fort Mill’s campus on April 2.
Both teams continue their region schedule Friday night as Fort Mill hosts Clover, while Catawba Ridge travels to Northwestern.
Also, the Catawba Ridge’s boy soccer team presented a check during the pregame to the Henry Kalungi Foundation and Fort Mill High head coach Henry Kalungi. The team hosts a week-long soccer camp for children in the Fort Mill community. At the end of the week, they invite the campers to a match between current players and alumni. All proceeds of the match are collected to support the foundation. Another alumni match will take place Friday, June 26.
March 10 Roundup
The Fort Mill girls’ soccer team beat Catawba Ridge in overtime to improve to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in Region 3-5A. Fort Mill was led by an overtime goal by a penalty kick from Abby Schueren. Catawba Ridge dropped to 4-1-2 overall and 0-1 in the region.
The Catawba Ridge softball team beat Fort Mill 9-8 to start Region 3-5A play and improve to 4-3 on the season. Via Petri and Camryn Bird each had three hits in the win and Bird led with three RBIs. Fort Mill fell to 1-2 overall on the year and 0-1 in region play.
The Nation Ford softball team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 15-2 win over Northwestern to open Region 3-5A play. Tori Baldino went 2-2 with four RBIs in the win for the Falcons.
The Nation Ford boys’ soccer team fell to Northwestern 2-0 to drop to 3-6 overall and 0-1 in Region 3-5A play.
The Nation Ford girls’ soccer team beat Northwestern 9-1 to improve to 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in Region 3-5A.
The Nation Ford boys’ tennis team beat Catawba Ridge 6-0 to improve to 4-0 overall and 4-0 in Region 3-5A.
The Nation Ford boys’ lacrosse team beat Indian Land 23-0 to improve to 3-3 on the season and 1-0 overall. Late Tuesday, the Nation Ford boys’ lacrosse team beat JL Mann 13-10 to improve to 2-3 on the season.
Late Tuesday, the Nation Ford girls’ lacrosse team lost their first match of the year 14-9 to Ardrey Kell and dropped to 5-1 overall.
Late Tuesday, Fort Mill boys’ tennis blanked Clover 6-0 to improve to 3-1 on the season making the match up from a rain out earlier in the season. Winning for Fort Mill was Liam Marriott, Lucas Coelho, Jethin Bastin, Ishaan Amjath, Sawyer Bryan and in doubles Jackson Bradley and Brandon Behrman.
