Clayton News Daily

By Doug Gorman

dgorman@news-daily.com

The Union Grove boys soccer team overcame the elements, a stingy Savannah Academy of the Arts defense, and some missed opportunities to advance to the second round of the Class AAAAA state tournament.

In a game that was played in rain during the first half, featured a lightening delay at the end of the first 40 minutes, then was played under sunny skies, the Wolverines finally connected on two scoring chances with a little more than 12 minutes left in the contest to pull away with a 2-0 victory.

One thing that didn't change was the gusty wind. The blustery conditions played tricks on the ball throughout the game.

"It was brutal out there," Union Grove head coach Mark Matthews admitted.

"We just didn't play that well, in the first half, but we choose sides (of the field), and it helped in the second half," Matthew said.

The Wolverines' offense clicked just enough in the waning moments of the game to send the team from Savannah home until next year.

With 12:59 remaining in the game, the Union Grove offense put pressure on the Savannah Arts Academy net when Alex Nagy feed a pass to Jesus Brito.

Although the ball failed to find the back of the goal, the Wolverines continued to put pressure on Panthers' net.

Fifteen seconds later, Union Grove went up 1-0 on Connor Curran's blast toward the net from 18 yards out.

"I just let the ball settle, took a shot and celebrated with my team." Curran said.