Kings Mountain wins 6th straight Gazette Cup title, Raiders finish 4th

 

On a blustry day and evening at Ashbrook, Kings Mountain defended their Gazette Cup title, 7-0 over the tournament hosts Saturday.

  

Kings Mountain outside midfielder, #10, Ramey Kerns, scored four goals in the final match and also picked up the tournament offensive MVP award. Kerns scored a total of 10 goals in the 3 match event. An outstanding finisher, Kerns shoots rockets at wide-eyed keepers. And, she’s only a sophomore!

The final match was pretty much decided in the first 30 minutes of play. Ashbrook couldn’t find the handle in the midfield and their defense looked confused. KM came from the left, right, and center on every attack.

     

The 3rd place match earlier in the evening between Forestview and South Point kept fans in their chilled aluminum seats for the full 80-minute regulation time, and then some. The teams ended tied 3-3 at regulation. According to tournament rules, other than the final, tie matches would be played directly to kicks from the mark (”penalty kicks”, for the uninitiated). Forestview, after losing in PK’s on Thursday night to Ashbrook, prevailed this evening 2-1, when “Eli” McEwan’s tying attempt dinged off the crossbar. South Point settled for 4th place in the loss.

The South Point-Forestview match had both teams fighting the gusty winds all evening. Each team earned more than 7 corner kicks apiece when misplayed balls were blown out over the goal line. Forestview took an early 2-0 lead until senior midfielder, Christine Ellington drilled a direct kick into goal to make it 2-1 about 8 minutes before half. Mary Leslie Miller of Forestview scored once more to make it 3-1 at the half.

In the second half, South Point picked up the pace of play and managed to keep possession for most of the half. Sophomore striker, Shannon Holder, scored two goals to tie the match in regulation.

If it were not for a couple of near-misses by freshman speedster, Diamond Davis, the Lady Raiders would have notched their third win in six outings this season. Christine Ellington also had a near miss directly from a corner kick that brought the fans to their feet.

Elizabeth “Eli” McEwan was presented with the Mike McCurry award which represents sportsmanship, outstanding play, and overall spirit of competition. Diamond Davis and Christine Ellington were selected to the All-Gazette team.