Sanderson boys soccer
Click here to see how close the Spartans came to scoring Thursday against Broughton.
Broughton bests Spartans in tournament finale
Following Sanderson's 2-0 defeat to Broughton in the Cap-7 Conference soccer tournament championship game Thursday night at Leesville Road High — and the Capitals were the ones celebrating with a trophy in hand — Spartan head coach Todd Worley wasn't displeased.
Aside from the Capitals' two early goals, Sanderson played the state's No. 3-ranked squad competitively, with chances to score that just didn't come to fruition.
"I think we had more opportunities to score in the first half, but we didn't," the coach shrugged. "They did a good job of putting the ball in the net. No complaints, both goals were nice.
"We would have liked to win that game, but right now they have our number and, hopefully, we can change that the next time we face them."
Prior to Thursday's championship, the two squads played just eight days earlier in their respective regular-season finales, with the Capitals pulling out a 2-1 win. Although their last meeting was close throughout the second half, Broughton made a statement early Thursday, jumping ahead on a Harrison Delbridge goal in the 12th minute.
Ten minutes later, Preston Jefferson netted his own goal, staking Broughton to a 2-0 lead.
"Our guys attacked well, and we did some things we thought we could do against them, but they got up on us early," Worley said. "From then on they played very defensively, which they should.
Near-misses seemed to be the Spartans undoing Thursday night as the squad just couldn't get in net, including one first-half flurry where J.P. Rafferty, the Broughton keeper and two defenders all collided within two feet of the Capitals goal. But the ball bounced away from net and out of harms way.
But the Spartans' closest successful attack came off a second-half throw-in as Glenn Scott kicked the throw toward the Capitals' net, and teammate Dylan Ejlali — standing just 10 feet away — deflected it just over the cross bar.
It was so close a celebratory cheer came from the crowd as the ball slid down the outside of the goal.
"We had a lot of opportunities, but we just didn't get them in goal," Worley said. "I have said this before, though, our guys are playing well, so I'm happy with that."
Now the Spartans turn their attention to the state playoffs, hosting Middle Creek Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 6:30 p.m.
Worley pointed out just how competitive this postseason will be, highlighting the Cap-7 Conference's tough first-round opponents.
"We have Middle Creek, and there's Athens Drive and Broughton, and Leesville and Fuquay-Varina," he said. "There are a lot of marquee match-ups right from the get-go."
