CARY - Middle Creek used a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter to blow open a one goal lead on route to a 14-6 win over visiting Athens Drive. The Mustangs out scored their visitors 8-1 in the final stanza.
The fourth quarter production by the Mustangs opened up a tightly contested contest that sat at just 6-5, in favor of the home, at the end of the third. The run opened just 38 seconds into the quarter when Charlie Doetzer split to the middle and sniped his third of the night into the top left corner. Doetzer found himself on the assisting end of Tanner Patrick's hat trick goal just over a minute later. Five minutes into the fourth Middle Creek scored four more goals in a span of 1:20. It wasn't until 4:42 left in the game that Bobby Padden put in his third on a drive around the crease that Athens was able to stop the bleeding. Jake Caputo and AJ King scored late to account for the rest of the Mustang goals.
The match-up of the night was at the face-off X where Athen's Chris Silver dominated most of the night. Silver was 10/12 in the first three quarters. The extra possessions kept the ball out of the sticks of the Middle Creek offense. The fourth quarter was a different story as AJ King won 6/9 face-offs he took. "Chris is a hell of a face-off kid, and they wore him down. Kudos to them for putting a long pole that is very active and can make plays off the ground." explained Athens Drive coach Tom Whetherby.
"AJ does a lot of really good stuff for us in the middle of the field. He kind of got going and won some ground balls, and we started finding the back of the goal a little more." Coach Nick Holota said of his junior defender and High Point University commit.
Middle Creek is back in action on Wednesday night as they travel to Millbrook for a non-conference match-up.
The Jaguars play host to conference foe Panther Creek Friday night.
Box Score
| Team |
1Q |
2Q |
3Q |
4Q |
Final |
| Middle Creek |
4 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
14 |
| Athens Drive |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
- Middle Creek - 14 vs Athens Drive - 6
- Goals: MC: C.Doetzer 4, T.Patrick 3, N.Post 2, D.Baird 2, J.Caputo, A.King, J.Medwar
AD: B.Padden 3, R.Koonce, A.Waller, N.Randolph
- Assists: MC: J. Medwar 2, C.Doetzer 2, O.Caputo
AD: B.Padden 2
- Saves: MC: J.Kelley 6
AD: R.Waller 8
- Face-offs: MC: A.King (8/19), T.Wilson (0/3), D.Engman (0/2) AD:C.Silver (13/21), D.Riggs (3/4)
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