The Roanoke Rapid yellow Jackets men's soccer team hosted Franklinton Rams at Hoyle field Saturday night in the 2A NCHSAA Men's State Championship.
The Jackets earned the 2-1 win in overtime on Penalty kicks 6-5 to advance to 2nd round.
Goal for Roanoke Rapids was from Carson Neal. The Penalty kicks were scored by Carson Neal, Markus Chappell, Cameron Wilson, Gray Draper and Tyler Smith.
Thomas Merritt had 19 saves in goal and saved 2 penalty kicks
Post match comments from RRHS head coach Craig Jean, "My kids gave a TREMENDOUS effort tonight. Both teams played extremely hard and goal scoring chances were rare. We had a mixup that gave them their goal early. Other than that, we were pretty solid for the rest of the 110 minutes. I thought we were much better in the 2nd half. Tyler Smith came on and made an impact. His set pieces are such a weapon and make us dangerous if fouled from anywhere on the field. Both teams' goal keepers and backs made some great plays under pressure. We have played so many close games this year that I knew it was a high probability that we would go to penalty kicks. We have been practicing penalty kicks for 2 weeks now. The fact that we were able to practice them in front of a crowd Wednesday night at our black/gold scrimmage helped. What also gave us confidence is the fact that Thomas Merritt had saved 6 of 9 penalty kicks taken on him this year. I have a lot of faith in him when it comes to penalty kicks. I am super proud of these boys. I have a great appreciation for how hard they played for me and each other all year- especially tonight. Next we will face the Clinton Dark horses (20-2-1) who beat Farmville Central 9-0 tonight. I'm glad to be guaranteed a few more days with this group and look forward to the 2nd round."
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