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Roanoke Rapids High School Yellow Jackets Men's soccer team win outright 2A Northern Carolina Conference Championship title Wednesday night at Hoyle field.
A diving save by Roanoke Rapids High school's senior goal keeper Thomas Merritt on a penalty kick with 3 minutes left in second overtime gave Roanoke Rapids momentum, leading to a game-winning goal by Jake VanDam a minute later and a 3-2 win over Granville Central.
Jackets Goals: Carson Neal, Emerson Escobar, Jake Van Dam
Jackets Assists: Cameron Wilson, Chase Johnson and Carson Neal
Thomas Merritt had 20 saves in goal
Post match comments by Jackets head coach Craig Jean, "First off, Granville Central is a great soccer team, very well coached, and I wish them the best in the playoffs. I'm certain they will be one of the teams to beat in the 1A playoffs. As for our team, I can't say enough good things about them. I've been praising their work ethic to anyone who would listen since last year. We give our best effort every single day and tonight was no different. They changed a few things about how they defended us tonight and we jumped on them super quick as a result. Having a 2 goal lead with 60 minutes to go, I knew would be hard to hold. Their first goal was off of silly mistakes that should have never happened and we basically gift wrapped it for them. Neither team had many chances for long stretches. When they tied it up in the 2nd half, it put so much pressure on every touch going forward, but I thought it made us play better. It was an emotional
roller coaster late. I thought Emerson's goal was a game winner, only to be taken back due to a Granville Central foul. When we had a PK called against us with 2 minutes to go in the 2nd overtime, it looked like game over for us. Thomas Merritt made the save of his life, which says a lot considering he averages over 250 saves a year. Our guys crashing in to keep them from scoring the rebound was the boost we needed. We were able to turn around and score quick after that. Our set pieces worked well and were worth the time we spent on them this week. Chase Johnson to Emerson Escobar for the 2nd goal and another good serve for the 3rd goal was critical to our victory. I have got to give the back line a lot of credit. They made a lot of non goalie saves. Gray Draper had one nonkeeper save that stands out that was out of this world. We've put so much hard work into this. Our boys
wanted this so bad, not just tonight, but for some for the past 4 years. What you saw tonight was a combination of hard work and a refusal to lose. We accomplished one of our goals, which was winning the conference championship. Next on our list is the 20th win of the year. But, we are definitely going to take a day and fully enjoy this one. My boys deserve it. Playoffs start next week. We will be playing at home and I promise there is no place my team would rather be. "
NCHSAA State Championship play-off brackets will be released later and the Jackets should open on its home field.
