July 21 – Dynamo 1-3 Cary
Pictures thanks to AltaSky
Story thanks to the News & Record.
Depleted Dynamo comes up short to Cary in playoffs
GREENSBORO — For the fourth time this month, nearby rivals the Clary Clarets and the Carolina Dynamo squared off against each other, this time in first-round playoff action in the Premier Development League.
And for the fourth time the road team came out victorious, as the Clarets took advantage of two sloppy plays in front of the Dynamo goal to emerge with a 3-1 victory.
Cary advances to play Mid Atlantic Division winner Reading on Saturday while Carolina’s season came to a close.
The Dynamo (10-5-2) found itself shorthanded as Sheanon Williams, the team’s second-leading scorer was not with the team, as he was with the U-20 team in Argentina. Carolina also was without Eddie Abbabio, who was out with a sore foot.
So, the Dynamo played a more conservative game than it is used to playing, especially at home at Macpherson Stadium.
“You could tell we were a little light up top,” Dynamo coach Joe Brown said. “We couldn’t hold the ball very well and connect with our midfield. The energy for Cary was a little more intense than us. They were driving at us a little more and finding the seams. We just made mistakes. Both teams made mistakes on goal we just made one critical mistake at the end there that was quite unfortunate.”
It was a scoreless game in the first half, with the Clarets doing much of the attacking.
Cary (10-4-3) finally broke through in the second half at the 58-minute mark. A shot on goal was stopped by Carolina goalie Brock Duckworth, but he failed to control the ball, which allowed Zack Schilawski to hammer home the rebound.
The goal by the Clarets seemed to light a fire under the Dynamo, which began to attack with a greater sense of urgency. Carolina caught a break when Cary goalie Akira Fitzgerald came out to handle a ball he did not need to, which led to the first corner kick of the game for the Dynamo.
The corner led to an extended attack, which resulted in a header by Brian Shriver to knot the game at 1-1 at the 65-minute mark.
“The guys knew their season was over so they moved on a little bit quicker,” Brown said. “We didn’t test the keeper all night but he gave us a corner and we put one in.”
Momentum was firmly on Carolina’s side until another uncontrolled rebound led to a second easy goal for Cary, again by Schilawski, this one at 71 minutes.
The Dynamo was forced to scramble and take more chances and the Clarets added a third goal on a solid strike by William Schuler near the end of regulation.
Cary 0 3 — 3
Carolina 0 1 — 1
Goals: Cary — Zack Schilawski 2, William Schuler; Carolina — Brian Shriver. Assists: Carolina — Arie Muniz. Shots: Cary 14, Carolina 8. Saves: Cary (Akira Fitzgerald) 5; Carolina (Brock Duckworth) 6. Corner kicks: Cary 4, Carolina 1.
