Ashley

New Hanover had the better of the play for most of the game but the Eagle defense would give up only one goal on a free kick. The Hanover goal came a little over halfway through the first half.This gave them a 1-0 lead. At halftime the Eagles discussed what went wrong and started playing their game of high pressure tight marking. Just over four minutes after the halftime break the Eagles were awarded a penalty kick for a foul that occurred in the box. Stanley Broaden put a perfectly place ball in the net to tie the score at one each. It was back and forth for most of the second half with Hanover getting better looks at the goal than the Eagles. The game started to turn towards the Eagles favor after a couple of key saves by Grayson Smith. The Wildcats committed a foul about 30 yards away from their goal giving the Eagles a great scoring opportunity with just over a minute left in the game. Stanley Broaden stepped up to the ball, assessed the situation, blasted it around the wall and past the keeper to give the Eagles a 2 to 1 lead. The last minute had to be played twice since there was some confusion over a play on the edge of the field near the bench area. There was so much confusion that the official decided to award Hanover the ball and play another minute. The Eagles were able to hold on and got the 2 to 1 victory over the Wildcats. This sets up a conference title match this Thursday against Hoggard.