Wednesday prep roundup: Cougars blank Mavericks
Charlotte Catholic scored early in the game, then relied on its defense for a 1-0 victory over Marvin Ridge in a meeting of defending state champions and nationally ranked teams.
The Cougars, ranked second in the country and first in North Carolina by MaxPreps, repeatedly frustrated the Marvin Ridge attack in a game that had only a handful of good scoring opportunities.
In a showdown for first place in the Southern Carolina 6A/7A Conference, defending 6A state champion Charlotte Catholic (14-0, 5-0) wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard.
Roger Crenshaw took a pass from Emmett Drensek and scored with 6:01 elapsed in the game.
The Cougars then spent much of the opening half breaking up scoring opportunities for the Mavericks (10-2, 4-1), who are defending 7A state champions and were ranked 14th nationally this week.
The Mavericks took the ball deep into Cougar territory with about eight minutes remaining, but Charlotte Catholic defender Liam Barrett stole the ball away. The Cougars then pushed the ball upfield, and Barrett delivered a centering pass that missed the foot of teammate Rex Bumgarner by only a foot or two in front of the Maverick goal.
Marvin Ridge had three reasonable scoring opportunities in the second half. The first came with 25:15 left, when Quinn McKinney was able to get off a long looping shot that skidded left of the Cougar goal.
Three minutes later, Marvin Ridge’s Ben Green broke free and had a wide-open shot from about 20 feet, but his effort missed to the right.
Then, with 8:10 to play, the Mavericks got off two good shorts, but the Cougar defense deflected the ball away in each case.
The Cougars’ best second-half chance came with 21:30 remaining, when Tatenda Mandiveyi escaped the Maverick defense about 10 yards out, but his shot from the left side crossed in front of the goal mouth.
The teams will have a rematch Oct. 28 at Marvin Ridge.
In other high school sports action Wednesday from around the Charlotte area:
Boys’ soccer
Greater Charlotte 7A/8A
Garinger 5, West Mecklenburg 0: Garinger took over sole possession of third place with a 3-2 conference mark.
Hough 2, Hopewell 0: Lukas Patrignani and Ignacio Guzman scored goals, helping Hough to improve to 4-1 in conference.
South Mecklenburg 3, Myers Park 0: The league-leading Sabres (11-1-1, 6-0) retained their one-game edge over Hough.
Southern Carolina 6A/7A
Charlotte Catholic 1, Marvin Ridge 0
Piedmont 4, Sun Valley 1
Porter Ridge 4, Weddington 1: Harrison Bevens scored twice for the Pirates.
Big South 5A/6A
Crest 2, Kings Mountain 0
Hunter Huss 3, Ashbrook 0
South Point 2, North Gaston 0
Rocky River 4A/5A
Forest Hills 4, Central Academy 2 (OT): The Yellow Jackets scored twice in the second overtime. Elroy Tayou-Keumo scored twice for Forest Hills.
Monroe 5, Parkwood 0
South Piedmont 4A/5A
Jay M. Robinson 2, West Rowan 1
Catawba Shores 2A/3A/4A
Christ the King 7, Langtree Charter 0
Lincoln Charter 2, Lake Norman Charter 0
Pine Lake Prep 2, Community School of Davidson 0: Jack Golon and Tucker Sheets scored for the Pride (9-2-1, 6-0), which retained first place. The Spartans fell to 9-3-1, 5-2.
Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A
Burns 1, East Gaston 1: East Gaston (4-7-2) pulled a surprise, holding unbeaten Burns (14-0-1) to a deadlock.
Highland Tech 5, Shelby 3
Lincolnton 5, Cherryville 1
West Lincoln 10, Bessemer City 1: Edwin Ramirez had a remarkable day, scoring six goals in West Lincoln’s romp.
Yadkin Valley 2A/3A
Albemarle 5, South Stanly 3
Gray Stone Day 8, North Rowan 0: Jackson Cotoni scored twice and added a pair of assists.
Union Academy 6, North Stanly 1
Catawba River 1A/2A/3A
Mountain Island Charter 2, Piedmont Community Charter 1: Jace Gonzalez scored in the second half, breaking a 1-1 tie.
N.C. School of Science & Math/Morganton 4, Jackson Day 1
Queen’s Grant Charter 9, Bonnie Cone Academy 0: Bruno Trujillo led the Stallions’ attack, scoring three goals.
Thomas Jefferson Academy 8, Sugar Creek Charter 0
Girls’ volleyball
Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A
Highland Tech def. Burns 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-17): Lilyanna Crawford (13 kills) and Carsyn Redmond (39 assists) led the Rams.
Nonconference
Community School of Davidson def. Davie County 3-1 (25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19)
East Mecklenburg def. Hopewell 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-12): Jane Young had 18 kills for the Eagles.
North Stanly def. Anson County 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-12)
Field hockey
Cuthbertson 3, Ballantyne Ridge 1: Anna Sobel, Kierianne McQuown and MacKennz Heinze each scored for the Cavaliers.
Myers Park 4, Ardrey Kell 0
Girls’ flag football
Ballantyne Ridge 40, Ardrey Kell 0: The Wolves picked off five Ardrey Kell passes.
Butler 45, North Mecklenburg 0
Chambers 6, Independence 2
Cox Mill 33, Central Cabarrus 0: The Chargers; Allie Berry threw three touchdown passes.
Cox Mill 25, Harding 0: Cox Mill ran its record to 9-0, as Allie Berry passed for Kinsie Carvin for a touchdown and ran for two more. Carvin finished with five receptions for 115 yards.
Cuthbertson 38, Mooresville 6: The Cavaliers improved to 6-0.
East Rowan 44, Jesse Carson 25
Hopewell 33, Garinger 7
Hough 30, South Mecklenburg 6
Jesse Carson 18, West Rowan 14
Olympic 7, Berry Academy 6
Providence 14, Palisades 0: Palisades entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state by one media outlet, but the Panthers improved to 7-1. The Pumas fell to 6-1.
Rocky River 36, East Mecklenburg 6: Lundyn Spears threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more.
Salisbury 31, South Rowan 0
West Cabarrus 12, Berry Academy 0: Ryleigh Parks completed 11-of-19 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown, and she also ran for 121 yards and the other West Cabarrus score.
West Charlotte 12, Mallard Creek 0: The Mighty Lions picked off four Mallard Creek passes.
West Mecklenburg 13, Myers Park 6
