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Thursday's high school soccer game between Charlotte Catholic and South Mecklenburg was expected to be one of the top games of the season - and it was.
The host Sabres and Catholic played to a 1-1 tie in a match that was physical, intense and full of drama.
The Cougars came in ranked No.2 in Class 3A and the Sabres were No.5 in the 4A coaches poll, with both teams ranked in the Observer's Sweet 16 poll.
Both teams scored second-half goals.
South Meck (6-0-2) took a 1-0 lead on Luis Chavez's goal and Catholic (5-0-1) tied the game late on a Roland Minogue's goal.
"It was a great game," said Sabres coach Jim Lynch. "Both teams played hard and I think it was a fair result at 1-1."
South Meck broke the ice in the 61st minute.
A throw-in by the Sabres' Jordan Murphy deep in Catholic territory was punched home by Chavez, a second-half substitute. The goal came after a scramble in front of the goal.
"That's what games like this are for," said Catholic coach Oscar Del Pino, whose team hadn't trailed in five previous games this season.
"It's to see what is this team made of, and how is this team going to respond to that type of adversity. And we showed tonight that we're going to scrap it out with the best of them."
With three minutes left, it appeared the Cougars would taste defeat for the first time this season. But Minogue slipped behind the South Meck defense and had a breakaway.
His first shot was stopped by Sabres' keeper Preston Shahdad from 25 yards out, but Minogue followed to score and tie the match at 1-1.
