PILOT MOUNTAIN — Mount Airy completed its undefeated regular season on Monday with a 7-2 win over East Surry.
Though the Bears (8-0-3) technically secured the Northwest 1A Conference Championship back in February. By defeating Bishop McGuinness three times, and thanks to Bishop defeating East twice, the Bears could’ve lost every remaining conference match and still had the best record.
The Cardinals (3-6-1) looked to play spoiler against their rival as Mount Airy pursued its second-ever undefeated regular season. The first came in 2013, when the Bears didn’t lose until the West Regional Semifinal.
The win would also mark the first time in school history that Mount Airy went undefeated in conference play and won the outright conference championship. East and Mount Airy each went 8-0-2 in 2013 and shared the conference title.
The only team to win the NW1A title without losing or tying a conference match was East Surry in 2014. The Cardinals went on to win the West Regional Championship that season.
East Surry became only the second team in 2021 to hold a halftime lead over Mount Airy by scoring two goals in the final seven minutes of the first half. Down 2-1, the Granite Bears scored six unanswered goals in the second half.
This includes three goals in the final two minutes.
After East Surry keeper Kevin Blakeney thwarted Mount Airy’s early goal-scoring opportunities, Agripino Perez put the Bears ahead 1-0 with a goal in the 17th minute. Perez scored off a cross from Juan Gomez.
Sophomore midfielder Sergio Garcia generated a lot of offense for the Bears on Monday. In addition to scoring a pair of goals himself, Garcia fed passes to striker Elkin Lopez throughout the match.
Lopez used his speed to create distance between himself and Cardinal defenders. However, the Bears struggled to fully utilize Lopez’s speed in the first half as Blakeney wasn’t shy about leaving his line to intercept a pass.
After recording six shots in the first 25 minutes of the match, Mount Airy played on the defensive for the remainder of the first half. East Surry entered Bear territory in the 32nd minute when Juan Caro put a free kick on frame, and never really left until halftime.
The Cardinals followed up the free kick by earning back-to-back corner kicks. Nick Lowery found Caro for a header on the first, which was deflected out by Mount Airy for the second. Keeper Edwin Ramirez lunged for the ensuring corner and missed, but was bailed out by his defense.
East Surry soon tied the score at 1-1 after Lupe Chavez floated a 30-yard shot over Ramirez’s head in the 34th minute.
Lowery put another shot on-frame in the 38th minute, but it was saved by Ramirez. Shortly after, Lowery worked up the left sideline before crossing to Myca Elmond. Elmond received the cross by one-touching a pass to Chavez in the middle.
Chavez then played a through ball to Estrada, who found the back of the net to put East up 2-1.
Mount Airy’s William Luna came close to evening the score in the opening minutes of the second half. Blakeney left his box to cut off a through ball sent for Garcia. Unable to use his hands, Blakeney impeded the shot and it bounced back to Luna.
Luna was faced with an open net and took a quick shot as Blakeney sprinted back to the goal. The 30-yard shot sailed over the crossbar as the Cardinals released a collective sigh of relief.
It wouldn’t last, though, as the equalizer wasn’t that far off. Freshman Saeed Saavedra evened the score in the 53rd minute with a shot from the near sideline. Saavedra used his left foot to place a shot just inside the near post.
Seven minutes later, the Cardinal box was crowded with players for a Mount Airy corner kick. The kick bounced around the box before eventually just popping into the goal. The Bears pegged Garcia as the goal scorer as Mount Airy recaptured the lead.
Mount Airy extended the lead after close to 20 minutes of play in the middle third. Juan Gomez took a free kick 10-yards inside of midfield close to East Surry’s bench. Gomez’s kick soared into the Cardinal box for Lopez to finish with his head.
East Surry had chances to close the gap in the closing minutes of the match. With just two minutes left, Lowery took a corner kick from the near sideline and found Elmond open at the far post. But, the shot was off target.
Mount Airy put the exclamation mark on the win when Garcia and Luna broke free of the Cardinal defense in the 38th minute. Garcia passed to Luna, whose shot was knocked down by Blakeney. Garcia was there to clean up the rebound and make it 5-2.
With less than two minutes on the clock and a three-goal deficit, Lopez piled on two more goals.
Mount Airy now waits to hear about its playoff seeding, while East Surry closes the regular season out on Wednesday at West Stokes.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com