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Blue Devils down Wildcats in overtime

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By Larry Sullivan | Mooresville Tribune

Published: October 6, 2009

Mooresville's soccer team made the most of making the fewest mistakes Monday. Lake Norman's paid for making the most.

The Blue Devils' Ulises Solorio punched in a rebound of teammate Colin Benjamin's deflected shot into an unguarded Wildcats net in the first five minutes of the opening 10-minute overtime segment. It standing up as the difference in Mooresville's 2-1 decision over Lake Norman that, for the time being, settled outright first-place honors in I-Meck 4A Conference.

The two teams closed out regulation play knotted in a 1-1 tie, each of those scratches coming off defensive lapses.

"We were able to capitalize on our chances and finish the game," Mooresville coach Steve Stith said. "The intensity was there on the part of both teams all night. Luckily, we were the one that came out on top."

Mooresville (11-2-1 overall, 5-1 I-Meck) never trailed, taking a one-goal lead over Lake Norman (9-4-2, 4-2) early and winning it late.

"Both teams played with a tremendous amount of heart,'' Wildcats coach Jon Mertes said. "There were three mistakes made, and there were three goals scored. We hated the fact that we came up on the short end, but we will get to meet them again."

The first goal of the night busting up the shutout came when the only question was whether Mooresville's Kyle Phillips could set his feet. After beating Lake Norman keeper Nick Hensley for possession away from the net, Phillips collected himself and planted a shot at the empty net.

The only scratch of the second half came on a similar situation. The home team's Morgan Myslinski registered a goal following a shot that slipped through the hands of Devils gatekeeper Max Henry. It, too, fell into a practically empty net.

Henry stood watch the entire match for Mooresville, netting six saves, while the duo of Hensley and Dalton Bauer shared equal minutes tending the Wildcats' pipes.

The latter pair combined for six saves as well.