High school SPC soccer: Surging Carson gets win on Wednesday

Published 8:05 pm Thursday, October 17, 2024

Staff report

CONCORD — Anthony Medina Beckham and Jon Pendleton scored goals for Carson in Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime win against Central Cabarrus.

Diego Vasquez and Wyatt Cornelius had assists for the Cougars (5-6-6). Adam Gardner was in goal.

Carson is climbing in the 3A West RPI rankings and is now rated the highest of the four Rowan teams in the South Piedmont Conference. The Cougars are 27th. Central Cabarrus is 23rd.

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CONCORD — South Rowan (8-8-2) lost 4-2 to Robinson on Wednesday despite 11 saves by Allan Ballinas-Gutierrez.

South is 32nd in the 3A West RPI rankings.

The Raiders are on the playoff bubble and could still finish ahead of Carson in the SPC standings. That may be an obstacle for Carson making the playoffs. The NCHSAA’s leap-frog rule won’t allow Carson to jump over South Rowan for a playoff spot if the Raiders finish ahead of the Cougars in the conference standings, but fail to qualify for the playoffs. It’s also possible both teams will fit in the 32-team playoff bracket. Some big matches are still ahead.

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MOUNT ULLA — An early red card hurt West Rowan, which played a man down for 47 minutes in a 1-0 loss to SPC foe Lake Norman Charter on Wednesday.

The Knights fired 22 shots on goal, but Nathan Freeman stopped all but one of them.

West (2-14-1)  is 49th in the 3A West RPI rankings and is out of the playoff picture.

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GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan  (4-12-5) is 43rd in the 3A West RPI rankings and also is out of the playoff picture. The Mustangs stayed with Northwest Cabarrus for a half on Wednesday, but the Trojans got goals from four different players in a 4-1 victory.

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Concord is seventh in the 3A West RPI rankings, while Robinson is 13th and Northwest Cabarrus is 14th. Lake Norman Charter is 29th.