Less experienced teams might have folded under the pressure of conceding a goal just 30 seconds into a playoff game. Catawba Ridge, on the other hand, rose to the occasion.
Despite conceding early, the Copperheads scored four unanswered goals Wednesday night to roll past Westside High (Anderson) 4-1 and secure a spot in Friday night’s Class 4A state quarterfinal round.
Joshua White scored twice, while Caden Tull and Derek Ringnalda added goals to help push the Copperheads, now 19-2, past the Rams in front of a well-attended home crowd.
“Experience is valuable,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Philip McCarter. “Luckily or unluckily, we’ve gone down several times this season because we’re young in the back. We came out really flat, but I knew they’d get it together, so I gave them some time to fix it themselves.”
From a Catawba Ridge perspective, the game couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
Westside striker Cristian Mata gained possession from the opening kickoff, dribbled down the right sideline, found enough space between him and his defender and hit a low shot that bounced into the net off the far post, past the sprawling fingertips of Copperheads’ goalkeeper Matthew Carlyon.
The Copperheads quickly calmed down and began imposing their will on the game.
White found Tull with an inch-perfect cross from the near side in the 18th minute, but Tull somehow pulled his shot wide from six yards out.
Still, Tull would redeem himself just two minutes later when he picked up the ball off of a loose header, fooled a Westside defender with a slick drag-back move, wriggled free and smacked a sweet shot to the upper-right corner of the Rams’ net to make it 1-1.
White completed the Catawba Ridge comeback with a goal of his own in the 24th minute. The wily striker quickly took control of the ball from a far-side corner, dribbled it into the penalty area and rifled a hard, low shot past the Westside keeper to make it 2-1 Copperheads.
“We dug deep,” White said. “The team always has each other’s backs. We always play 110 percent for each other. We come back and come back on top.”
It only took two minutes into the second half for White to secure his second strike of the night.
Tull pulled out to the right wing in the 42nd minute and pinged a low cross into the box where White was waiting to tap the ball in from just a couple yards out to make it 3-1 Catawba Ridge.
Ringnalda added the Copperheads’ fourth goal of the night in the 62nd minute when he reacted quickest to Zachary Zawlocki’s free kick.
Ringnalda is the team’s best overall player, McCarter said, but has been hampered by injuries throughout the season. McCarter said he told Ringnalda to score a goal from a set piece. When it happened, McCarter walked over and gave Ringnalda a big hug.
“We’ve got a lot of special players,” McCarter said. “That’s why we’re here.”
With the win, Catawba Ridge will next host Greenville High in the quarterfinals on Friday evening. Greenville earned its spot in the matchup by beating A.C. Flora in their respective second-round matchup.
The jobs not done; White added.
“We’ve still got the quarterfinals, Upper State and state final,” he said. “Three more games to win it all. I think we can make it all the way. The starting team is very strong. Everyone’s got each other’s back.”
