Nikki Jones opened the scoring in the second minute and Erin Cooper assisted on the next two goals by Lauren Broderick and Toni Giangrande. Broderick picked up her second goal of the game and 11th of the season in the second half on a penalty kick.
Cooper’s two assists raise her season total to eight and moves her past Jordan Howell into second place on the school’s all-time career list with 24. Laura Peters, who shares the single-season mark of 14 with Cooper, is the career leader with 35. Howell and Peters graduated from Pinecrest in 2000.
Katelyn Burwell, with late relief from Catlynne Arreguin, helped the Patriots record their ninth shutout of the season.
In a couple of schedule changes, the Pinecrest junior varsity (9-0) will play a 4:30 p.m. match at Northwood next Wednesday. Thursday, the varsity will travel to Douglas Byrd to make up a postponed league match at 6 p.m. The home date with Wilson Fike previously scheduled for Thursday was cancelled by that school because of a need to make up conference games.
Goals: (P) Broderick 2, Jones, Giangrande, Jenn Schroeder, Katie Fields, Anne Brannon, Holly Thompson, Molly McGahey; Assists: (P) Cooper 2, Brannon, McGahey, Lora Smith
PHS Wins in Golf
The Pinecrest boys’ golf team injected itself with a healthy dose of confidence by defeating defending state champion Raleigh Broughton in a nine-hole match played at Pinehurst No. 1 Tuesday afternoon.
The Patriot’s Robert Riesen was medalist with a two-under-par nine-hole score of 33. Taylor Allard 36, Brett Thrasher 37 and Drew Davis 38 completed the winning team score of 145, two strokes better than Broughton.
“It shows we can keep up with them,” said Pinecrest coach Sandy Sackmann of the school that has won five straight state titles, including last year’s at No. 8. “It may not have been as important to them as it was to us. It was good for us to play such a competitive school.”
Robert Womble and Bryant Ware led the visitors each with 36. Will Henderson posted a 37 and Webb Simpson and Conner Harris shot 38s.
Sackmann hopes the good result gives her team the spark it needs to win the Mid-Southeastern Conference title with matches remaining at Scotch Meadows and Richmond Pines. The Patriots are coming off two straight second-place finishes that dropped them into a tie for first place with Jack Britt.
She said that there would be strong competition among team members to earn spots in the top six for the remaining matches.
“I didn’t feel we played real well on Monday,” the coach said of the last league match. “We are really young as a team and we still have a lot of work to do to get where we want to be.”
Through six matches, Riesen, a sophomore, leads the conference with a 73.7 scoring average. Guatam Natarajan of Jack Britt is second at 77.3.
Next Wednesday, beginning at 2 p.m. at Southern Pines Country Club, Pinecrest, North Moore, O’Neal and Union Pines are scheduled to meet in the Optimist Tournament.
UP Soccer Gets Forfeit
A forfeit of Wednesday’s match by Randleman raised the overall record of the Union Pines girls’ soccer team to 8-4.
The Vikings were scheduled to play Jordan-Matthews in another non-conference match on Thursday. Monday they entertain Southwestern Randolph at 5 p.m. in a key Tri-County Conference match. The Vikings will enter the contest at 2-4 in league play.
Vike Tennis Wins
The Union Pines boys’ tennis team defeated Trinity 8-1 in a home Tri-County Conference match Tuesday afternoon.
The Viking’s Hunter McNeill picked up wins in singles and doubles to improve his career record to 140-29, moving him into a tie with Aaron Priest for ninth on the school’s all-time list.
Union Pines, 8-4 in the league and 11-5 overall, travels to Asheboro next Tuesday for another league match.
Union Pines 8 Trinity 1
Singles – Hunter McNeill (UP) d. Anthony Cranford 8-0; Josh Kelly (UP) d. Alan Murphy 8-1; Devon Graham (UP) d. Neal Dorsett 8-2; Danny Strobel (UP) d. Watson Weatherly 8-0; Jordan Gray (UP) d. Kevin Darr 8-0; Corey Lambeth (T) d. Michael Robbins 9-8 (7-1).
Doubles – McNeill-Graham (UP) d. Murphy-Dorsett 6-0; Kelly-Strobel (UP) d. Cranford-Weatherly 6-0; Gray-Evan Whetzel (UP) d. Darr-Lambeth 6-0.
Falcon Golf Wins
The O’Neal School boys’ golf team posted its best score of the season in winning its seventh match without a loss at Talamore Golf Club Tuesday afternoon.
Blair Miller was medalist with a three-under-par 69 as the Falcons defeated Westchester Academy 290 to 341.
Next Tuesday, Cary Academy visits Talamore for a nine-hole match beginning at 4 p.m.
The six-over-par team total of the Falcons included John Justice 72, Jordan Hicks 74 and Jack Ulrich 75. Graham Helsabeck led Westchester with an 80.
The Pinecrest junior-varsity baseball team handed Scotland County its first Mid-Southeastern Conference defeat 1-0 in a marathon game played Tuesday night at John Williams Field.
A suicide squeeze bunt by John Newton in the 11th inning brought home Mario Messana with the only run of the game.
This evening at 8 p.m., the Patriots entertain Union Pines in a first round game of the Pinecrest Junior Varsity Easter Tournament. The remainder of Friday’s schedule shows Lee County vs. Scotland, 11 a.m., Richmond vs. Terry Sanford, 2 p.m., and Jack Britt vs. Pine Forest, 5 p.m. The tournament continues on Saturday and concludes Monday.
Ryan Summerford pitched the last six innings to pick up the victory against the Scots. Dexter McLemore pitched the first five and later playing first base made a diving stab for an out in the top of the 11th with the lead run on third base.
The Patriots improved to 5-1 in the conference and 9-1 overall.
Last Saturday, they scored all 12 of their runs in the third inning in a 12-1 victory over Douglas Byrd. Phillip Fish was two for two, including a grand slam home run in the big inning. Brandon Formyduval also had two hits, including a triple and two RBIs. McLemore picked up the victory on the mound.
