Hobbton’s Ulises Perez moves the ball midfield.
Henry Garcia moves the ball downfield for Hobbton. He had four goals in the match.
Wildcat Ricardo Diaz moves the ball down the sideline. He set up two goals.
A highly anticipated fourth round matchup Saturday night saw the No. 2 seed Hobbton Wildcats men’s soccer team hosting the No. 3 seed Pender Patriots in a rematch from August. The score matched the last outing, with Hobbton sending the Patriots home on the heels of a 5-1 win from the home team.
The first 20 minutes of the soccer match Saturday evening was a tough defensive battle before the Wildcats hit their stride and started scoring.
Both teams had plenty of chances at the net; however, the fantastic work of both keepers kept the match under control.
At the 19:17 mark, Jose Rivas hit the back of the net with a header after Ricardo Diaz sent the ball toward the net from the corner. In the mad scramble by Pender’s keeper and both teams, Rivas found the ball and sent it against the top of the net to the back for the score.
Henry Garcia got the first of his four goals at the 14:30 mark, on a line drive straight into the net from about 10 yards out.
Pender got their only score with 5:48 left in the first half, when their player angled the ball in from the side out of reach of Hobbton’s keeper. The half ended with the score 2-1, Hobbton.
Garcia started the second half with his second score at 37:44 to put the Wildcats up 3-1. At 22:52 left, Garcia hit another ringer from outside. His final score came at 16:47 on a header rebound after a Diaz kick from the side again.
The Wildcats host Voyager Academy tonight for the NCHSAA 1A Eastern regionals at 6 p.m. Tickets will be $8.