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North Rowan goalkeeper Michael Hill stole the show Tuesday night — even in a 4-0 loss.
The Salisbury Hornets easily advanced to the championship game of the Rowan County Boys Soccer Tournament, but came away with a greater appreciation of their Central Carolina Conference rivals.
North had vowed to play the Hornets better than in past meetings, and Hill made it stand up. Last year’s Salisbury-North tournament game ended 8-0 — this one could have been 18-0 but for Hill’s amazing play.
“That kid was always in the right place at the right time,”said Hornet Daniel Butner, turned away at least four times. “I don’t even know his name. Michael Hill? OK, I’ll have to put that one away in the memory banks.”
Salisbury peppered the goal with at least 20 shots. The first three goals came on gimmes from inside 10 yards. The last one was a Will Ketcham blast from 25 yards out that no keeper was going to reach.
Only two other balls got past Hill, and they bounced off the post. He turned away everything else.
“I said to him after the game that it was probably the best game I’d ever seen a North keeper play,”Cavalier head coach Vince Connolly said. “He made some saves that were phenomenal.”
Salisbury head coach Tom Sexton sought out Hill after the game and told him more of the same.
“That was one of the best offensive nights we’ve had, but the goalkeeper was playing out of his mind,”Sexton said. “He was ultimately ready to play tonight.”
In the end, of course, the Hornets still advanced to the title game and North had to settle for a third-place battle with West Rowan.
Hill stopped two great chances in the opening minutes and the Hornets had another run waved offsides before finally scoring in the 15th minute.
North turned the ball over at midfield and got caught with too many defenders upfield. Salisbury sophomore Bill Goodman took a long pass and beat the one Cav back, then dribbled in for a wide-open shot from in deep for a 1-0 lead.
Goodman got into the act again minutes later, when he tapped a pass over the defense to Alex Beaver.
The footrace was on between Beaver and Hill, but the Hornet got to the ball first and chipped it over the diving keeper for a 2-0 advantage.
Butner still managed a point when he fed Beaver on the third goal. Butner dribbled through the entire Cavalier defense and found Beaver from about six yards out for an easy score.
Ketcham added to Salisbury’s 3-0 halftime lead when tallied the only goal of the second half on his long blast in the 52nd minute.
Cavs Kevin Rutherford and Nya Memakeh had the best scoring chances on the other side of the field but were turned away by junior keeper Seth Ruhlman. Defenders Jason Wallace, David Pinkston and a host of others did the rest to preserve the shutout.
“The defense played real well — Pinkston, Wallace,”Butner said. “Up front we had some real nice combinations working.”
And a few times, those scoring combos actually stymied Hill.
“I wasn’t really expecting to have that kind of game,”said Hill, a sophomore. “I was hoping the defense could get to them more. When they got byI did what I could.”
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NOTES: With all the action on the Hornets’ side of the field, Cavalier attackers Jordan Littleton and Antonio Sanchez, who scored five times in Monday’s win against East, didn’t even sniff a scoring chance against Salisbury. … The Hornets play South Rowan for their second straight Rowan County title Thursday at 7 p.m., with the third-place game starting at 5 in Ludwig Stadium.
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