After a bye in the first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A State Championship tournament, the Hobbton High School Wildcats varsity girls’ soccer team would get its first taste of playoff action, hosting 10-seeded Raleigh Charter Phoenix on Thursday evening.
Hobbton came into the playoffs as the seventh seed in the tournament following a 14-win season and a strong 12 wins in conference season, with 89 goals scored on the year.
From the minute the whistle blew, Raleigh Charter was fixated on controlling possession of the ball, constantly putting pressure on the back line of Hobbton, while winning challenges on the ball inside the midfield. It wouldn’t take long for Raleigh Charter to make those possessions count, scoring the first goal in the match with a long shot goal that was out of reach for Hobbton Senior Goalkeeper Neydi Montes.
As the first half continued on, finding consistent flows on the attack was hard to come by for Hobbton, with inaccuracy on passes that allowed Raleigh Charter’s defenders to keep the Wildcats from building anything near the goal. Halftime would come with a 1-0 deficit for Hobbton.
Going into the second half, Raleigh Charter picked up where they left off, bagging a goal early to double their lead. Hobbton was able to generate two chances following the goal with 27 minutes on the clock in the second half , with Freshman Melaine Bartolo managing to get a shot that was just saved by the arm of the opponent goalkeeper. The ball bounced to the feet of Senior Jullie Herrera, but her shot went just above the goal shortly afterwards.
Following this, the midfield from both teams would manage to disrupt passing lanes, with no real danger to either defensive side of the box. That changed when Raleigh Charter managed to beat Hobbton’s back line to put in a third goal in the back of the net past Montes. From here, Raleigh Charter would find the fourth and final goal of the match, their striker managing to get around the defensive back line and putting a left bottom side shot into the net to put the Phoenix up 4-0.
As the whistle blew, the result began to sink in with Hobbton players, some players taking their time to speak to each other and support those overcome with emotion following the result.
”I knew it was gonna be a tough match,” Hobbton Coach Juan Sanchez said via translation by Hobbton senior Denisse Jorge Garcia, following the loss. “I was happy that the players sacrificed a lot, we played pretty good, we just couldn’t find the net at the end of the game.”
Sanchez credited Raleigh Charter’s push on offense that made things more difficult for Hobbton to find open passes and options to kick-start the attack. At the end of the game, he told the team that he was proud of them, that one game didn’t define them.
“I’m proud of them, we still succeeded, we still kept our heads up,” Sanchez explained. “It’s a pretty tough loss, but I’m still happy for the team.”
The loss marks the final time Garcia, Herrera and Montes will put on a Hobbton uniform for the Wildcats, with all three players graduating in May. Herrera and Garcia have committed to play soccer for Carteret Community College and High Point, respectively, after graduation.
“I’ve coached them since freshman year, but over the past few years, I’m very proud of them,” Sanchez said regarding his three senior players. “For Denisse and Jullie, who are going off to college. I’m happy that throughout the years, there are more players who are coming out of Hobbton. Hopefully the program keeps going and more of our players get pulled to play college ball, but overall, I’m very proud of all three of them.”
The three Hobbton seniors also gave their thoughts on the game, reflecting on this being the final time on the field that they would be together with the team.
“Ever since we got the seedings, I knew that it was gonna be a pretty tough game,” Garcia emphasized. “I’ve never felt this way; there’s always been a good feeling. But today, it was a pretty bad feeling. I tried to push through it, just very unlucky. We just couldn’t find the back of the net today.”
Garcia felt that the team’s attack wasn’t able to get much going through the first half. She noted that once Herrera was moved to the front of the attack in the second half, the midfield was able to help find more options that generated more chances for shots. Garcia also had to overcome an injury in the second half, going down for a short period of time before being able to continue after going to the bench.
“Any last touches before ending my high school career means a lot,” Garcia recalled her motivation to fight through the injury. “In my head, I felt like I had to keep pushing and pushing.”
Garcia emphasized she will miss all of her teammates, calling the team her family. She hopes that they can continue to succeed both on the field and off the field. While disappointed with the playoff result, Garcia is also looking forward for the opportunity to play for High Point soon in a couple of months, and took a moment to share her final thoughts as her time at Hobbton ends.
“I’d like to thank Hobbton soccer for giving me the opportunity to go out there and show what I truly love.” Garcia said. “I’d like to thank the lord for everything, for giving me the gift of using my feet and my mindset and definitely my heart into loving him and using him to show others that the lord is out, even with just one simple thing.”
Montes highlighted the fact that the team talked during halftime about what could have be done better and how they could execute things differently, which helped fuel the attack in the second half. Montes joined the team as a sophomore, having never played the sport before joining Hobbton. After the game, finding the game of soccer left a huge impact on her.
“It’s very hard to accept the fact that I won’t be playing on this field anymore.” An emotional Montes said. “With my team, the girls I’ve met, the bonds I’ve made through soccer. Soccer definitely has a special place in my heart. It’s changed me in many ways. The people, the coaches, everybody was a family, we were just a team.”
Montes credited everything that she knew about the game to Sanchez, describing just how influential he truly was.
“When I started playing, I knew nothing about soccer,” she explained. “Coach Juan had faith in me. He couched me, he taught me everything I know. He was my first coach. He’s gonna have a place in my heart as well, a big part from soccer. This being the last game with him is very difficult. No more practices, no more seeing him after school, waiting for the season to start to play.”
To be able to share the field one last time with Herrera and Garcia was special for Montes.
“They’re the ones that pushed me to play, to try something new. I didn’t really play sports.” Montes said about her two teammates. “They convinced me to play soccer to play with them. Today meant a lot. From our first game playing together, to our last.”
For Herrera, moving further up in the attack in the second half was something that she admitted was a little challenging.
“I usually play winger, and I played striker,” she explained. “I usually don’t like being a striker because my main ability is to run; I can’t read the ball. Overall, I think they’re just faster than us and quicker with the ball. For sure, we had more shots and more opportunities in the second half. Some of the plays were missed opportunities on my end; I could have scored some goals, but I didn’t. That’s just where it comes to the fate, where it wasn’t meant to be.”
Herrera thanked Sanchez for his help in her development as a winger and looked forward to the opportunity to play college ball at Carteret. She mentioned the fact of the step up in difficulty between high school and college ball.”
“It’s gonna be a whole lot harder, especially with this game,” she said. “The level here in high school compared to college, it would be really rough for me, especially when it’s division two, it’s just gonna be really hard. It’ll take some time to learn, I hope that everything goes well whenever I go play over there.”
Garcia and Herrera have played together since they were both in middle school. Herrera credited Garcia’s skill and felt proud to be able to play on her team, along with Montes.
“It was a good honor to play with her; she’s a really good player and has a lot of potential.” Herrera described Garcia.” Neydi, we brought her here in her sophomore year and she’s grown a lot. I’m really glad we got her out of here, even though she didn’t want to. I’m super grateful that I got to celebrate my senior year with them, and now we get to leave together. I’m proud of us girls, we made it this far, a whole lot of people doubted us, but we did it.”
Herrera shared her final thoughts about Hobbton, and what it meant to play for the program and her love for the school.
“Hobbton is a really good school, it’s small, but it has a whole lot of potential,” she said. “The staff is amazing, the sports are good. A whole lot of people doubt us, but we try our best to show up in front of other people. I’m just so glad I’m going to graduate next week. Hobbton has shown me a lot and has made me a better person. I’ve loved Hobbton, and now I’m glad to leave here.”