Published September 24, 2008
By Jay Edwards
The Charlotte Observer
Charlotte Latin beat archrival Charlotte Country Day Tuesday night for the third straight time this season.
But Will McGinnis and his Hawk teammates were thinking about bigger and better things as they won 2-0.
“Our goal is to win a (state) championship,” said the junior forward on the No. 1 team in the state. “To do that, we have to win (our) conference. We can't lose. Right now, winning means everything.”
After beating the Buccaneers 4-1 in consecutive games earlier this month (Sept. 5 and Sept. 9), Latin (11-2-1) struggled with Country Day (5-4-2, 1-3) for a half with the score knotted at zero after 40 minutes of play.
“We missed some opportunities in the first half,” Latin coach Lee Horton said. “But I told the team not to get frustrated. We were playing good soccer, and I knew we would get our chances.”
Latin came out strong in the second half, scoring just over two minutes in when sophomore Jonathan Grad headed in a throw-in from classmate Conor Keeley.
Twelve minutes later, in the 54th minute, Keeley found a wide-open McGinnis for another score.
“The intensity of our team really stepped up (in the second half),” McGinnis said. “But we definitely were a little frustrated at first. We knew we needed a result.”
McGinnis' goal was his 12th on the season, which leads the team; Grad notched his fourth, third on the squad. Keeley's two assists give him four on the year.
“It's hard to beat a team three times in one season,” said Horton, whose team did not allow a shot on goal in the second half. “I thought Country Day made some good adjustments that made it tough on us. But we made our own adjustments.”
Latin, which dominated the ball most of the game, outshot the Buccaneers 19-5 for the game.
The Hawks, who lost to the Cannon School earlier this season, kept their hopes of winning a conference championship alive. Latin still has two games with Providence Day, one with Charlotte Christian and what could decide the conference championship in an Oct. 8 showdown with the Cannon School.
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