‘Cats dominate in rainy playoff game

Nasty weather conditions set the stage for Thursday night’s third round of the NCHSAA State 1A soccer playoffs at Hobbton High School. A cold, pouring rain and gusty wind made the playing field tumultuous as the Wildcats and visiting Vance Charter navigated standing water in an effort to get their game in on time. Umbrellas and canopies lined the bleachers as fans on both sides did their best to stay dry. For the Hobbton players, however, the weather didn’t seem to faze. In rather impressive fashion, the Wildcats put on a clinic of how to play in the rain, as they stormed away with the 10-1 victory and a chance to play in the fourth round.

A particular standout for the night was Hobbton’s Henry Garcia, who heard his name ring out from the PA system multiple times.

First, though, it was Ricardo Diaz who scored the game’s first goal. It came pretty much right off the bat at the 35:35 mark as a trio of Wildcats crashed the Knights’ goal. A couple of crossing passes found Diaz, who beat the Vance goalkeeper to make it 1-0.

Just a few minutes later, though, the Knights swung the ball the other way, dialing up a little magic of their own. Jacob Lazar got a shot on goal that slipped just off the fingertips of Hobbton goalkeeper Luis Martinez and slow-rolled into the goal, making it 1-1.

At 30:59, it looked as though a battle was about to ensue. In fact, throughout much of the game, the Knights looked to be able to keep pace with the Wildcats, getting plenty of momentum on run-outs toward the goal. The problem that was plaguing them, though, was that they couldn’t figure out how to navigate through the accumulating water quite like Hobbton.

The tie score lasted merely moments as Diaz struck again at the 28:55 mark, putting the Wildcats back ahead, this time for good.

Garcia got his name called out for the first time at the 26:27 mark, putting the score at 3-1.

While the rain continued to fall, the scoring let up for just a bit as the action swung back and forth, up and down the field. It seemed like the defenses, and Mother Nature, had taken over, but the goals began to pick up again for the Wildcats.

First, Garcia got his second goal of the game with 17:15 showing on the clock, making it 4-1. Garcia then got the hat trick at 15:20, pushing the advantage to 5-1.

At the 10:39 mark, Hobbton’s Dilmar Zelaya took possession of a rebound off the crossbar and fired it right back in for another score, making it 6-1.

Garcia got his fourth goal of the game with 4:07 left in the first half, pushing the margin close to the nine-goal mercy rule threshold at halftime.

As the teams broke for the halftime intermission, the score was 7-1.

The second half was short-lived as Hobbton tallied three goals quickly to get the 10-1 victory. Diaz and Garcia each got one more goal in the second half and Ulises Perez secured the final goal to earn the Wildcats their spot in the fourth round.

With the win, Hobbton is now 21-5-1 overall. They were slated to play again today, hosting No. 3 Pender, who holds the exact same record.

Second-round coverage

The Hobbton Wildcats’ soccer team advanced to the third round of the state playoffs with a 5-1 victory over East Bladen Tuesday evening. The game started slow with both teams working hard on defense.

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard the first time at 36:06 on a strong kick up the middle by Ulises Perez to take a 1-0 lead. They continued to build that lead with a score by Henry Garcia at the 24:13 mark.

At 17:22, Ricardo Diaz got his first goal, raising the score to 3-0 in favor of the Wildcats. That’s when the half ended.

In the second half, Perez hit the back of the net on a rebound kick from Diaz on the sideline. The ball slipped from East Bladen’s hands right into the foot of Perez, who made it a 4-0 lead. After much more defensive battling, Diaz found the back of the net again with 8:53 left in the match for a 5-0 lead.

East Bladen slipped one past Hobbton’s keeper with 2:25 left.

“The boys played good last night,” Wildcat coach Christian Vega commented. “I made two changes in the starting line that paid off. They executed our strategy very well. They maintained good possession of the ball and our defense did a very good job by stopping their key players last night which was big for us to come out with the win.”