CHAPEL HILL — The ball bounced around in the Woods Charter penalty area, pinging off of posts and defenders before it fell in front of Braydon Gregory, a sophomore midfielder for visiting River Mill.
Gregory took a touch, then fired a low, hard shot with his right foot. It skipped past Woods Charter’s keeper on the frozen pitch, and banged against the back of the net.
The referee blew his whistle, signaling a goal and that the contest was over. The River Mill Jaguars rushed the field in jubilation, having just beaten the Woods Charter Wolves 2-1 in the third period of extra time in the second round of the 2021 NCHSAA 1A boys soccer playoffs on a frigid Thursday night at the Park at Briar Chapel.
“I think we were outstanding tonight,” Woods Charter head coach Graeme Stewart said. “Sometimes in the game, the ball doesn’t fall for you. We had great chances. I think we competed. We were intense. Our discipline was fantastic. Mentally, we were strong. I’m proud of every single one of them. We went down a goal, we responded straight away. We kept believing, we kept working.”
For sixth-seeded Woods Charter (10-9; 9-1), the defeat ended the team’s season. It was the first loss the Wolves had suffered in nearly a month, when they lost to this same Jaguars team back on Oct. 13. River Mill, a No. 11 seed in the playoffs, moves on, and they’ll face the winner of Neuse Charter and North Moore.
“They’re a good team, they’ve won 15 games,” Stewart said of River Mill. “It’s not easy when you go down like that. ... That was an outstanding game of soccer. It was a good advertisement for Chatham County soccer.”
For 80 minutes on Thursday — the entirety of regulation — neither team could find the back of the net. Temperatures dipped below 43 degrees as the boys played, and while that’s not quite freezing, it often seemed like there was a wall of ice stationed in front of each goal. Both the Wolves and Jaguars had decent chances, but the ball just wouldn’t bounce into the net.
Despite the frosty conditions, the parking lot near the pitch was full, and fans lined the area on the opposite side of the fence, often cheering loudly. Indeed, despite the low score, this was a terrific soccer match, and a competitive one too.
On display were two superb goalkeepers. For the Wolves, the agility, instincts and sure hands of Coyt Neagle kept them in the match. The junior saved seven shots on the night, often acting as a moving wall between the posts.
“Coyt’s a good goalkeeper,” Stewart said. “He’s a great shot-stopper. His positioning was good tonight. We know he can do that. He’s outstanding. We’ve got him for one more year and he’s a big player for us. You need a goalkeeper and we’ve got one.”
For River Mill, the stout keeper was Juan Lainez, who snuffed out his own fair share of shots, like a free kick that Woods’ Caleb Jackson put on-frame in the 27th minute.
Still, after 80 minutes of regulation, it was the keepers who stood tall and unscathed.
That quickly changed in the first period of extra time, when both teams netted goals. River Mill finally bested Neagle in the seventh minute, when Gregory scored his first goal. This too was another low, hard strike that landed inside of the far post.
Two minutes later though, Woods equalized. A corner kick from Jackson sailed into the Jaguars’ penalty area, ricocheted off a defender and sailed past Lainez for the tying score. Some might mark it down as a goal for Jackson, while others may call it an own-goal on River Mill. Regardless, the score was knotted again.
After another scoreless 10-minute period, the game moved into the second sequence of overtime: two five-minute periods of Golden Goal, meaning the first team to score won. And so, with Gregory’s timely right-footed strike, River Mill scored, won and advanced.
“I don’t even know. We hit the crossbar twice. We just kept passing through, and then I was in the right place at the right time, I guess,” Gregory said. “I think we deserved to win. We should’ve scored before all of that.”
Despite the defeat, Woods has no reason to hang its head. The Wolves finished the season with a winning record, captured their conference title, won a playoff game and battled as hard as they could against the Jaguars.
“I’m extremely proud of what we’ve done,” Stewart said. “We stood up and we were firm and strong. I can’t fault the guys on anything. Just, sometimes, the result doesn’t go for you. We had nothing else to give and we took a good team all the way.”