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Alexander Central's Steve Morgan has coached high school soccer for 28 years. After nationally ranked Myers Park beat his team 7-0 Saturday afternoon – at one point scoring three times in eight minutes – Morgan said he hasn't seen many teams in his career as good as this.
“They're exceptional,” Morgan said of the Mustangs (21-0), ranked No. 1 in North Carolina and No. 5 in ESPN's national poll. “I was head coach at Hickory for 25 years and we played Myers Park three times, so I've seen them before, but the team you have right here is one of the best I've ever seen.”
This second round N.C. 4A playoff was never in doubt. Alexander Central began with an aggressive defense, keeping nearly everyone back to prevent Myers Park from scoring.
The Mustangs took 15 shots without a score, but coach Bucky McCarley was impressed that his team was never frustrated and kept pushing the ball up for more attempts. About six minutes in, on his team's 16th shot, Davis Carter nailed a right-to-left kick from 30 yards. Five minutes later, freshman reserve Eric Suarez scored the first of three goals.
Down 2-0 to start the second half, Morgan had to change his defensive formation and play more traditionally, knowing it might open up more opportunities for the Mustangs. Suarez scored 48 seconds into the second half. There was an own goal before Justin Davis scored with 32 minutes, 11 seconds remaining.
Later, Suarez scored again and Jack Barnette finished the scoring with 2:56 left in a game in which Myers Park outshot Alexander Central 35-4.
“We're behind areas like Charlotte in terms of having the opportunities to play club ball,” Morgan said. “We're in a very rural and poor area. Our kids have accomplished a lot considering what we have compared to everyone else. They're an excellent team and we had a good ol' fashioned butt kicking because they were a better team than us – not because our kids didn't try, and that says something.”
Myers Park will advance to Wednesday's third round against Southwestern 4A rival Ardrey Kell (16-4-1), which won 3-0 at Asheville Reynolds (20-3). The game will be played at Myers Park at 7 p.m.
