Email
Print
Greyhounds soccer storms back to win
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: October 29, 2009
Statesville coach Gordon Palmer is a pretty big guy, but he was nearly taken clean off his feet Wednesday by a charging Trent Gennusa.
A joyous Gennusa sprinted across the field toward his coach and leapt into his arms after scoring his third goal of the evening as the two celebrated a dramatic 4-3 Greyhounds win over West Iredell.
Gennusa was dynamite for Statesville (12-8-1, 10-2 North Piedmont 3A), which trailed 2-0 early before rallying for the win.
The victory gave Statesville a share of the NPC championship with North Iredell.
"Trent is amazing," Palmer said. "And he just keeps getting better."
That's a scary thought for Statesville's future playoff opponents.
A junior, Gennusa took over play after a sluggish start and controlled the middle of the field.
After narrowly missing on a few opportunities prior, Gennusa left no doubt about his goal from at least 30 yards out late in the first half. Warriors keeper Tang Moua was in good position, but had no chance at getting a hand on Gennusa's laser into the upper 90.
"That gave us a lift," Palmer said. "Our goal this year was to be conference champions. We wanted nothing but a conference championship."
Those plans were momentarily put on hold by quick-starting West Iredell (14-6-2, 8-4).
Max McCoy and Craig Vang both scored early, and it looked like West Iredell would be in control all night.
But Brandon Quaglia made it a 2-2 game less than one minute into the second half, and Gennusa's second goal in the 56th minute gave Statesville an edge.
Craig Vang answered less than 30 seconds later, however, to make it a 3-3 game and set the stage for Gennusa's heroics late.
"It was well-played, hard-fought match between two good teams," Warriors coach David Heintz said. "It was just two good teams going at it."
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
