Gazette Cup: Jaguars, East Gaston claim wins

LOWELL — It took Forestview almost 54 minutes to display the intensity that has helped the Jaguars win eight Gazette Cup high school soccer tournament titles.
But once they turned up the heat, it was back to the good old days as Forestview cruised to a 4-0 win over Highland Wednesday night at Poston Park.
“We were a bit over-confident coming out,” said first year Jaguar coach Trey McKeown. “The boys finally stepped it up, but Highland did a good job keeping the pressure on early.”
The two teams fought a grueling midfield battle during the first 20 minutes before David Gibbons was able to slam home the first goal on an assist from Jake Emerson to give Forestview a 1-0 lead. The Jaguars played good ball control during the rest of the half, but were unable to pound in another goal even though they got five shots after the Gibbons goal.
“We didn’t have the patience we needed,” McKeown said. “We showed more of that in the second half.”
Senior Bradley Allf led the Forestview attack in the second stanza, pushing the lead to 2-0 on an assist from Price Martin at the 54-minute mark, then scoring again in the 73rd minute on Emerson’s second assist of the night.
“I had to redeem myself because I had a bad shot in the first half,” Allf said. “It felt good. I’m glad we pulled it out.”
After Allf’s second goal, the Jaguars started thinking about the Gazette Cup format and pounded in another goal just five minutes later as Justin Henry headed home a crossing pass from Gibbons.
“They realized they wanted to be playing in the final,” McKeown said. “They knew they needed to turn it up.”
The shutout gave the Jaguars eight total points for the tournament, but that may not be enough to make the championship game as both Ashbrook and South Point had significant goal differentials in their first round games, which were both shutouts. But Allf says the Jaguars are in it for the long haul.
“We need to work better as a team and focus on moving the ball,” Allf said. “It’s early. I think we have the potential to do really well (for the rest of the season).”
Ashbrook and South Point will try to work their way into the finals tonight as the Green Wave faces North Gaston at 6 pm and South Point plays Gaston Day in the nightcap. Both teams won their opening games in routs, as Ashbrook beat Gaston Day 6-0 and South Point took a 5-0 win over North Gaston.
A victory and goal differential of one by Ashbrook and two by South Point would put the Wave and Raiders into the championship game at 4 pm Saturday and relegate the Jaguars to the third-place game at 2 pm.

East Gaston 5, Hunter Huss 3
East Gaston staged a furious second half rally with four unanswered goals to bounce back from a two-goal deficit and take a 5-3 win over Hunter Huss in the nightcap of Wednesday’s Gazette Cup action.
“It was a lot about momentum,” said third-year Warrior coach Josh Allen, who kept shouting from the sideline for his team to ‘dig deeper’ in the second half. “Once we started believing in ourselves and scoring goals, it went our way.”
The Huskies took an early 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Fernando Lopez in the first 12 minutes. East Gaston cut the lead to 2-1 in the 16th minute on a goal by Tanner Hawkins, but Hunter Huss pushed the lead to 3-1 as Tyler Mosk scored on a pass from Noah Sale just before the halftime whistle.
Josh O’Meara gave the Warriors some hope at the 59-minute mark as he scored on a header from Christian Ocasio and those two hooked up again 12 minutes later to tie the score at 3. East Gaston took the lead in the 88th minute as Justin White scored on an assist from Hawkins and White finished off the scoring a minute later, assisted again by Hawkins.