South Meck defeats Providence 1-0 to advance to state soccer final
The South Mecklenburg Sabres completed their dominant romp through the NCHSAA 4A West soccer playoffs Tuesday with a 1-0 win over a stubborn Providence Panthers team in the West Final at South Meck.
The undefeated Sabres will look for their first state soccer title since 1971 Saturday in Raleigh at Dial Field on the campus of N.C. State when they’ll host Laney High School (Wilmington).
South Meck dominated the match with a huge statistical edge but couldn’t score the winning goal until 11 minutes remaining in the contest. Junior midfielder Fernando Garcia headed in Ethan DeSilva’s accurate throw-in to give the Sabres the only goal they would need.
“I came off the bench on that throw-in; I saw Ethan and he throws in the ball and I jump,” said Garcia. “All I did was try to put it with power toward the goal. I headed the ball and it goes in. We do this every day in practice. A very exciting moment.”
South Meck had a whopping 25 shots on goal compared with only eight for Providence. Panthers goalie Gordon White had a stellar game, making 13 saves and keeping Providence in the game late against the high-powered Sabres’ offense.
“I’m very proud of my team and the way we hung right with the No.1 team in the state,” said White. “My defense was there for me and I think we did a good job.”
With the dominant time of possession and territorial advantage South Meck enjoyed all night, did the Sabres wonder if the ball was ever going to go in for them?
“They (Providence) haven’t given up many goals in the playoffs, and we knew it was going to be tough,” said South Meck coach Eric White. “We’re all about getting chances; and we were creating chances and creating chances, and we knew that we were a good enough team to finally break through. Ultimately we did.”
The Panthers had one last opportunity to tie the match with five minutes left. The Panthers’ Nick Aparicio made a huge run deep into South Meck territory and was pulled down just on the 18-yard box line.
While Providence was hoping to be awarded a penalty kick, the referee ruled that the takedown was just outside the box and gave the Panthers a free kick instead. Providence got two shots on goal off the set piece but couldn’t get the equalizer.
QUOTE: “The game plan was to see if we could take them as long into the game as we possibly could at 0-0. They caught us at a moment, one of the very, very few if not the only moment in the game where we actually lost focus defensively. The kid (Garcia) came in, it was a great header and a great goal. Hopefully they (South Meck) go on and win it coming from our conference.” Providence coach Nathan Williams.
WORTH MENTIONING: Two other area teams advanced to state finals Tuesday. Community School of Davidson beat Mount Airy 6-1 in the 1A semifinals and in 3A, Weddington shut out Asheville 3-0.
RECORDS: South Mecklenburg (22-0-2), Providence (18-4-3)
WHAT’S NEXT: South Meck will play in the NCHSAA 4A state soccer championship Saturday in Raleigh at Dial Field at N.C. State against Laney.
This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 11:32 PM with the headline "South Meck defeats Providence 1-0 to advance to state soccer final."