Rosewood hands Princeton 1-0 loss
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 14, 2010 1:46 PM
Rosewood did not play a perfect game.
But the Eagles were solid on both offense and defense in a 1-0 victory over Princeton on Wednesday night. The victory pushed Rosewood back above the .500 mark in Carolina 1-A Conference play.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair between the rivals as neither team found much room to work their respective offenses. Rosewood controlled a majority of the possession, but failed to connect on any of the team's five shots.
Princeton misfired on its two attempts.
"I thought they kind of out-worked us in the first half," said Eagles' head coach Daniel Mitchell. "We came out a little sluggish and I think that we played much better in the second half."
In the 47th minute, the Eagles got a very good scoring chance when Antonio Henriques collected a loose ball and raced toward the Dawgs' net. Henriques fired a shot that sailed just wide of the left post and kept the game scoreless.
The Eagles' speedster would not miss on his second opportunity.
In the 57th minute, midfielder Brett Robinson gained control of the ball at midfield and quickly turned to get position on the Dawgs' defender. Robinson slid a pass down the middle of the pitch and found a streaking Henriques, who beat the keeper with a low shot.
"We had a couple of good looks that we did not finish, so it was good to see Antonio put the ball in the net," said Mitchell. "We put Brett (Robinson) and Zach (Behrend) together in the midfield because they work well together and with our forwards. Tonight it paid off."
Princeton picked up the offensive pressure over the final 10 minutes, but never got a good look at the Eagles' net.
"I am really proud of these guys because they battled tonight," said Princeton head coach Steve Brush. "We played a pretty even game, but the one thing we were missing was that one key scoring chance inside the 18-yard box."
Rosewood finished with nine shots on goal to just four for Princeton.
The Eagles (6-5-0 overall, 3-2-0 CC) travel to Charles B. Aycock today. Princeton (1-12-0, 1-3) entertains Spring Creek on Monday.