Southwestern Randolph Cougars return to boys’ soccer state final

Southwestern Randolph’s Braydon Tyl heads the ball during a game last week against First Flight in the state playoffs for boys’ soccer. Southwestern Randolph won again Tuesday night by defeating Clinton to advance to face Newton-Conover at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Guilford College’s Appenzeller Field in Greensboro for the Class 4A state championship. (PJ Ward-Brown / Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO — Southwestern Randolph will have another chance in a state championship game for boys’ soccer.

And it took some dramatics in order for that to happen as the Cougars scored two late goals to defeat visiting Clinton 2-1 in Tuesday night’s Class 4A East Region final.

“I think the right team won in the end,” Southwestern Randolph coach Jimmy Walker said.

That sends Southwestern Randolph (26-1) to the state final against Newton-Conover (24-1-3) at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Guilford College’s Appenzeller Field in Greensboro.

“This time we’re looking to take it all home,” Walker said.

About five minutes after falling behind near the 13-minute mark, the Cougars struck with goals 27 seconds apart from Kevin Garcia and Fernando Hernandez.

So after what looked gloomy for a few minutes with the clock ticking down, two goals with less than eight minutes remaining changed that from the Cougars’ perspective.

“It was really nip and tuck and could have gone either way,” Walker said.

Clinton (25-3) gave the Cougars looks with formations they hadn’t encountered this season.

“We had to work through that,” Walker said. “We wanted to be a little bit more dangerous, a little more assertive and not hold the ball so much, … I wasn’t panicking inside.”

But time was winding down.

“We got impatient with our shots,” Walker said. “We had to find that extra gear. We just took that momentum and went with it.”

There was a special atmosphere for the regional final. Walker would like that to be replicated in Greensboro.

“I hope this crowd shows up at 4:30 Friday,” he said.

In the West Region final, top-seeded Newton-Conover defeated second-seeded Ashe County 2-0.

The East Region final between the top-seeded Cougars and second-seeded Clinton was a rematch of last year’s Class 2A state final (prior to the move to an eight-classification set-up) in a game won 3-1 by Clinton.

The East Region final was also a rematch from a Sept. 24 game, which Southwestern Randolph won 5-1 at Clinton