Gators play strong, complete game against Wildcats

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on October 3, 2013 1:48 PM

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RUDY COGGINS

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- A quality opponent brought out Spring Creek's most-complete game of the season on the soccer pitch Wednesday afternoon.

Revenge played a factor, too.

Otto Binar collected a hat trick (three goals) and assisted on another goal for the Gators, who rolled past Hobbton 5-1 in Carolina 1-A Conference play. Spring Creek (9-2-1 overall) avenged a road loss to the Wildcats and stayed within striking distance of league-leading James Kenan.

"We were nervous because we lost the first game against them," Binar said. "We had to come in with intensity and passion. Coach (Linda Salter) said we had to let it play out on the field. We knew they were going to play a little bit rough, but we had to leave our hearts out here.

"If we wanted to get back to first place, we couldn't lose any more games. We came out here, trusted each other and played as a team. It feels good to beat a team that beat us in their house."

Spring Creek sent its message early.

The Gators controlled the tempo, disrupted the Wildcats' offensive flow by stepping into passing lanes and denied the league's top scorer -- Eber Gomez -- any good looks on goal. Gomez converted a penalty kick in the 29th minute, but couldn't put a shot on frame the rest of the afternoon.

Binar opened the scoring in the 17th minute on a pass from midfield and flicked the ball to the back post as Hobbton keeper Aldair Feliciano slid to block the shot. Nearly four minutes later, Ivan Lemus made it 2-0 on an assist from Binar.

Gomez's PK closed the gap to 2-1.

Spring Creek (6-2-0 Carolina) made a slight adjustment at halftime and opened up its offense. A 10-minute stretch proved decisive in the outcome as the Gators collected three goals with smooth offensive movement upfield.

Binar scored off of Angel Morales' assist in the 53rd minute and completed his hat trick in the 63rd off of a long ball over the top of the defense from David Vega. Morales provided a goal in the 57th minute.

"We had a give-and-go where we had three or four hits and it went out of bounds down the line in the first half," SC head coach Linda Salter said. "We talked about it at halftime. We got the ball down the outside, stretched them and created opportunities. They did exactly what I wanted.

"I'm proud of them today. (It was) a tremendous effort all around."

The Gators owned a 17-14 edge in shots, while the Wildcats led 7-5 in corner kicks. Spring Creek keeper Jose Sanchez logged eight saves between the pipes.