One goal is enough as Southside tops Clover Garden in 1-A playoff opener

Published 4:34 am Sunday, November 10, 2024

By Jason O. Boyd

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CHOCOWINITY, N.C. — In soccer, one goal is all you need to win the game … along with a solid defense.

Southside scored in the 23rd minute and used a bend-but-don’t-break defense to secure a 1-0 win over Clover Garden in the first round of the Class 1-A state playoffs. The win, the sixth in eight games for the Seahawks (15-8-1) sets up Tuesday’s second-round match at East Wake Academy.

“You just got to stay in the game. You got to keep your mentality on the ball and trying to get it out,” Southside’s Taylor Ashley said about the defense they played and getting the win. “You can’t let that ball go. You got to be physical the whole game. And you got to just push yourself.”

Both teams appeared to be feeling each other out early as strategy set in. The Seahawks and Grizzlies each had their scoring chances, but defense was the name of the game for most of the first half. A Southside goal changed all that and put the pressure on Clover Garden to get the equalizer, something the Seahawks and keeper Jaheem Blount never let happen.

“I felt like we had a lot of good opportunities tonight, and I’m wondering if the Saturday game maybe threw our rhythm off a little bit because we’re normally Monday through Thursdays,” Southside coach Jay Petty said. “We don’t usually practice or play on Fridays and much less play on a Saturday.

“So what I told the boys there at the end was I said you did what you needed to do to get the job done, and I said you didn’t quit.”

Southside got its goal in the 23rd minute. There was a battle in front of the Grizzles’ goal that ended when Pedro Chavez Pullman, one of two seniors on a very young squad, scored as the Grizzlies’ goalie found himself out of reach of the shot and score. Pullman’s goal tied him with freshman Arturo Ramos with 22 goals each this season.

“I’ve had him for four years. He is a machine. He just does not quit,” Petty said of Pullman.

“And the thing is, with Pedro, he will be out here an hour before practice, working before we practice. He’ll usually come out about 2.30, 3 o’clock, and he’s shooting, dribbling, running, doing all sorts of things.

“Today I even told him, I said, ‘Look, when the team is here at 2.30, I said, I don’t want to see you out here at 1.30 on the field kicking the ball.’ I said, ‘Save your energy’ because Pedro is just that kind of kid. He will work himself to death. But it’s a good thing.”

From there, Southside’s defense did the rest to preserve the shutout. During one stretch early in the second half, Blount and the Seahawks survived three straight corner kicks by Clover Garden in a span of two minutes. Blount made several other big saves as the Grizzlies continued to attack Southside’s end searching for a goal.

One final kick from Clover Garden’s Cameron Clayton to Aiden Fuller went off Blount’s leg, setting up one final corner kick for the Grizzlies. They were unable to convert and the ball went out of bounds near Southside’s bench as the final horn sounded.

“I think the defense did pretty good about dropping back when they need to and paying attention to who’s on which side,” Blount said. “And staying on that man instead of getting all spread apart and being unsqueezed in the middle. So they squeezed a lot more, I would say, in this game, for sure.

“For my part, I would say they did better at challenging the ball. And I did more diving than I usually do in games, for sure. And I guess keep your composure and keep control so you don’t lose control.”

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