Myers Park stops South Meck, advances to 4A state soccer finals

By Tim Donelli and Langston Wertz Jr.

Updated November 14, 2018 3:23 PM

Myers Park Senior Daniel Watts scores the first goal of the night against South Meck Tuesday. Jonathan Aguallo Special to the Observer

Myers Park soccer coach Bucky McCarley is getting used to traveling to Raleigh for state championship matches.

After taking the Mustangs’ girls’ soccer team to the state final last spring, McCarley will be back in Raleigh again this Saturday as No. 8 seed Myers Park took down a stubborn No. 6 seed South Meck 2-1 Tuesday in the boys’ NCHSAA Western Regional Final.

Daniel Watts and Cameron Peterson scored early in each half for the Mustangs, and Myers Park goalie Jacob Hall made seven saves while yielding only one late goal for the winners.

The Mustangs will play for the 4A State Title this Saturday in Raleigh at N.C. State University at 8:05 p.m. against Cary Green Hope. The Falcons beat Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons won 3-2 Tuesday in the Eastern regional final.

Myers Park Head coach Bucky McCarley celebrates his team’s victory over South Meck. Jonathan Aguallo Special to the Observer

“I’m really excited for them,” McCarley said of his team. “One of the words the boys wanted to put on their warm up shirts this season was ‘program.’ One thing about this team, yes they want to excel this year, but they understand that they are a piece of a larger hole. This is about our program getting to the state final.”

Just as South Meck jumped on Providence early in the Sabres’ Western Regional semifinal on Saturday, the Mustangs did the same to South Meck.

Just two minutes into the contest, Sam Bass served a great ball into the box to Watts ten yards out. In tight quarters and a few dribbles later, Watts beat the last South Meck defender and blasted a shot by Sabres keeper Ross Bilon for a 1-0 Myers Park lead.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Watts on giving Myers Park the quick lead. “I’ve been putting them in through the playoffs but tonight it felt a little different. The further you get the better it feels to keep scoring.”

Early in the second half, in the 45th minute, Peterson took a feed from Carter Hensley. After settling the ball, Peterson’s 25-yard bending shot found the back of the South Meck goal for a 2-0 Mustangs’ advantage.

It appeared that Myers Park would earn the 2-0 shutout, but the Sabres scored with one minute, 45 seconds left in the match to slice the Mustangs margin to one. South Meck’s Spencer Lewisohn drew Hall out of the net and scored from a sharp angle, despite the Sabres being down a man due for the match’s final 11 minutes due to a South Meck red-card ejection for a player accumulating two yellow cards.

“We did get back one late, but it was too-little, too-late unfortunately,” said South Meck coach Eric White.

The loss denied the Sabres a chance to get back to the state title match since their last visit there in 2015.

RECORDS: Myers Park (20-2-0) South Meck (18-6-1)

THREE WHO MATTERED:

Daniel Watts (Myers Park): senior forward scored the game’s first goal and led all players with four shots on goal.

Spencer Lewisohn (South Meck): junior midfielder scored lone Sabres’ goal to inject hope of a possible late-game comeback.

Colin Perrin (Myers Park): senior defender was a solid rock in the back, thwarting numerous South Meck scoring chances.

THEY SAID IT:

“We have a very specific tactic in the first five minutes One of the things you want to do is play that first five minutes a certain way to let your boys work out the butterflies. Doing things that we do in the first five minutes are important, and we preach it all season long.” McCarley on getting a fast start in the match and scoring early.

WORTH MENTIONING:

▪ The two teams met once during the regular season way back on August 16, with the Mustangs shutting out South Meck at home 3-0.

▪ Myers Park’s playoff trek to the playoffs included wins over Clemmons West Forsyth (2-0), Independence (3-0), Hough (2-1) and South Meck (2-1)

▪ While South Meck was the home team, Tuesday’s match was played at Ardrey Kell’s turf field due to the two-day heavy rains that made South Meck’s grass field unplayable.

▪ In the 1A semifinals, Community School of Davidson beat Polk County 1-0. Community School (22-1-2) will play Durham Voyager Academy (21-3-2) in Saturday’s state final. Community School, which lost to Bishop McGuinness in the 2016 semifinals, is back in the finals for the first time since 2015. Franklin Academy beat Community School 3-1 in the 2015 state final.