MYERS PARK 1 - EAST FORSYTH 0

The Myers Park Mustangs hosted the East Forsyth Eagles in the Regional Finals of the West 4A Playoffs with the winner earning a spot in the State Finals this weekend in Raleigh.  

A huge crowd came out to cheer on the Mustangs.  Early in the first half as the Mustangs put pressure on the Eagles, Patrick Lipps took the ball into the right corner and made a few moves on the Eagles defender, sent a beautiful cross as Brendan Kelley headed the ball into the goal giving Myers Park a 1-0 advantage.  The Mustangs kept the pressure on.  The first half ended with Myers Park leading 1-0.

The second half started the same as Myers Park kept their pressure on East Forsyth.  As Myers Park settled in, East Forsyth threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Myers Park defense.  The defense held strong led by Spencer Monroe and Thomas Brafford.  Midfielder Casey Caronis sat in front of the two center backs making a strong diamond when you include Keeper Josh Brown.  With the rest of the Mustangs taking positions around these four, the Mustangs kept the Eagles out of the net.  One of the Eagles, #8, had an incredible shot that hit crossbar.  This would have tied the game up, but the extra defender, the goal, came in handy.  

As the second half wore on, the game started to get physical.  The center ref did an outstanding job of keeping control of the game and called one of the best games all year long.  

Myers Park wins 1-0 and moves on to the State Finals at NC State University, on November 15^th, 2008 @ 7pm.  Their opponent will be the winner of the New Hanover / Green Hope matchup schedule for Wednesday night.

Come support your Mustangs in Raleigh.  Wear Green and be ready to cheer.  The crowd is a huge advantage for the Mustangs and they will need all of your support as they go for the State Championship.
   MYERS PARK 2 - SOUTH MECK 1
On a record breaking night with more than 1800 in attendance, Myers Park and South Meck faced off for the third and final time this season.  The games of halves as one stated.  Myers Park took control of the game early.  Holding possession and putting tremendous pressure on South's defense, Myers Park got on the board with a goal from Jordan Dabestani with an assist from Justin Davis.  A few minutes later, Myers Park earned a free kick.  Spencer Monroe comes up and places a nice ball into the box.  Ruben Perez gets his head on it and places it into the net for a 2-0 lead.  There were a few more chances by the Mustangs that were stopped by the Sabers Keeper.   Half ends 2-0.

The second half starts with the Mustangs still having control, but the Sabers started to attack and gained momentum.  As they put the Mustangs defense under pressure, Myers Park responded.  Spencer Monroe and Thomas Brafford led the way with help from the rest of the Mustangs dropping back and working as a team to defend the onslaught of throw ins that the Sabers earned.  South has a not so secret weapon in a player that can throw the ball into the box.  It makes it very dangerous for defense, but Josh Brown was coming up big.  It was very helpful to have seen this twice already this year.  On one throw in though, the Mustangs did not clear the ball out well enough and the Sabers pounced blasting the ball past the Mustangs defense making the score 2-1.  As Myers Park continued to play defense, South Meck kept the pressure on.  The Mustangs united and held firm and kept the Sabers out and hanging onto a 2-1 victory pushing them into the next round of the playoffs.  Article from the Observer:  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/preps/story/314217.html

The Mustangs will next play the East Forsyth Eagles at Gus Purcell Stadium.  The game is scheduled for Tuesday, November 11, 2008 @6pm.  (This time could change so check back for any changes).

Come out and show your support for your Mustangs.  They will need all the support of the wonderful Mustang fans to make it to the next round of the NCHSAA Playoffs.  (Come early as the lines have been extermely long.  Gates open an hour before game time.)

As always, wear GREEN!!!!


 MYERS PARK 3 - ARDREY KELL 1

In a third round playoff game, the Mustangs from Myers Park hosted the Knights of Ardrey Kell.  This was a showdown of the #1 and #9 teams in the state 4A and their third meeting of the season for these conference foes.  The winner earns a spot into the quarterfinals and a matchup with South Meck / East Meck winner.  Two other SW4A schools.  More on that later.

The game started with both teams coming out firing.  Ardrey Kell pushed, Myers Park pushed back.  Like two heavyweight fighters feeling each other out.  As the game progressed, both teams had chances but came up empty.  The defense of the Mustangs led by Spencer Monroe and Thomas Brafford was playing well.  Half ends 0-0.  

With Brendan Kelley still recovering from his injuries from Saturday’s game, the Mustangs did not seem to have their normal flow.  The team was adjusting to a different rotation.  Let’s see what the second half brings. 

Ardrey Kell kicks off and immediately goes down the field just missing scoring the game’s first goal.  Davis Carter makes a spectacular save keeping the ball out of the net when Keeper Josh Brown was pulled away from goal, keeping the score tied at 0-0.  Things were going back and forth with both teams controlling different parts of the half.  Ardrey Kell finally breaks the deadlock with a rip from about 25 yards by Landon Barefoot.  Keeper Josh Brown gets his hands on the ball but the ball slips past into the net.  Ardrey Kell is up 1-0.  

Myers Park does not panic.  They get things going pressuring the Knights defense.  With Myers Park earning a corner, Alex Henry tees it up and Ruben Perez heads in the ball to tie the game three minutes after Ardrey Kell scored.  The Mustangs celebrated like crazy earning a yellow card.  Not sure why Myers Park earned one, but three minutes earlier, Ardrey Kell did the same thing without receiving a card.  

Twenty-two minutes to see who will make it to the quarterfinals.  A huge crowd of around 700 people watched as both teams took turns pounding the goal.  For every ‘punch’ Ardrey Kell threw, Myers Park answered.  A game that could easily have been 4-4, ended 1-1.  

Overtime!  With both teams tired, Myers Park seemed to feed off the home crowd and appeared a little stronger once OT started.  In the first OT, Myers Park struck when Justin Davis passed to Erick Suarez for the goal, giving Myers Park a 2-1 lead.  As both teams were wearing down, they were missing some shots that they would normally finish.  Half-time of OT, the Mustangs are leading 2-1, but with 10 minutes left, it is anyone’s game right now.  The second half of OT starts with the same desire and intensity both teams showed in the game up to this point.  With a few minutes left to go in the game, keeper Josh Brown punts the ball deep after making a save.  As the ball is in the air the Myers Park forwards take off.  As an Ardrey Kell defender and Jordan Dabestani go up for the ball, they knock each other out of the way, with neither one touching the ball.  Erick Suarez who broke after the ball was kicked found himself five yards behind the defense with the ball and an open field towards the goal.  What do Mustangs do, when they see an open field?  You got it, they run.  As Erick Suarez took off, a stampede of Ardrey Kell players and one other Mustang, Jordan Dabestani started chasing him down.  As Erick approached the 18 yard box, the Knights Keeper came off his line to challenge the play, making a great diving deflection.  Bad news for Ardrey Kell.  Good news for Myers Park.  The lone Mustangs who trailed the play, Jordan Dabestani was right where he needed to be and placed the deflection into the net for a 3-1 Mustangs lead.  The last seconds finally ticked off the clock and Myers Park earned a spot into the quarterfinals.

After the players shook hands, the players led by Justin Davis ran to the student section to thank them for their support.  A few of the players even jumped into the stands.

Over the loud speaker we learned that South Meck defeated East Meck 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals also.  This will be the third meeting between the Mustangs and Sabers this year.  Both games have been extremely close and could have gone either way.  South is currently ranked #6 in the state and is a very dangerous team.  What a great showing by the SW4A Conference.

It comes down to this.  The top two teams from the SW4A.  The game will be at Gus Purcell Stadium, Saturday, November 8, 2008 @ 6pm.  You are not going to find a bigger game than this in Charlotte.  The #1 and #6 ranked teams in the state, conference rivals, third meeting of the year, schools less than 10 miles from each other and the winner gets a berth in the Western finals.  To top all that, the weather is suppose to be unbelievable for a November evening.  Come out and spend the two hours cheering on your Mustangs.  As always, Wear Green and be ready to cheer.  See you there.

Observer:  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/preps/story/302802.html