2A soccer tournament: Rowland Hall advances with easy win

Simply being the more skilled team doesn't necessarily translate into wins in the playoffs. That's why Rowland Hall came out and didn't take anything for granted in the opening round of the 2A state tournament on Wednesday.

Spurred on by Robbie Hull's two goals in the first half, Rowland Hall rolled to the 4-0 victory over Beaver amid periodic snow flurries at Sunnyside Park.

"I told our guys technically we'll be superior, tactically we'll play a style they might struggle with, but you still got to show up and play," said Winged Lion coach Bobby Kennedy. "I'm please with the result, I'm glad we didn't allow any goals. We have some things to work on, but it's nothing new."

Rowland Hall, the Region 14 runner-ups, outshot Beaver 28-3 in dominating possession from the opening whistle. It took about 30 minutes and 10 wayward shots before Rowland Hall finally settled down and started hitting the target.

After spraying numerous scoring opportunities in the opening half hour, Hull finally opened the scoring in the 30th minute by slotting a low-driven shot just inside the left post. The goal opened up the floodgates.

Five minutes later Hull scored again putting Rowland Hall up 2-0 on another low shot inside the penalty area. Boem-Jong Park tacked on a third goal just before halftime lofting a 30-yard shot into an empty net vacated by Beaver's keeper who had come charging way off his line.

"Every team we've played including teams from higher classifications we've always had chances, it's just a case of if we put them away," said Kennedy.

With the victory Rowland Hall advances to the quarterfinals where it will face West Ridge this Saturday at 1 p.m. Both teams are No. 2 seeds from their respective regions, and will have a coin flip to determine state tournament seeding.

Up three at the break and the outcome well in hand, Rowland Hall settled into a possession style game in the second half in addition to allowing some of its junior varsity players to get some playoff experience.

Rowland Hall sophomore Gery Arsene capped the scoring in the 62nd minute with a fantastic dribbling run and finish.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com

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