CORDOVA — The Hamlet Middle School boys’ and girls’ soccer teams wrapped up their respective regular season campaigns Tuesday at in-county opponent Cordova Middle School.
And now the waiting game for the playoffs has begun.
The Red Rams and Lady Red Rams both picked up wins to remain near the top of the Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference standings. Currently, the Ellerbe Middle School girl’s team has a one-game lead over the Hamlet, and the Ellerbe boys lead Hamlet by the same margin.
In girls’ action, head coach Ashleigh Buie’s Lady Red Rams rolled to a 6-0 mercy-rule win over the Lady Cavaliers. Hamlet scored five of those goals in the first half before adding the final goal early in the second half. No individual scorers were provided.
Buie noted it was a “great effort by the entire team” to stay just one game behind Ellerbe. The Lady Red Rams improved to 8-1 on the season and currently sit in second place in the SEMSAC standings. Their only loss came in Week 1 against an undefeated Lady Wildcats team.
The boys’ game was a nail-biter that saw both teams battle until the final whistle. Head coach Earl Nicholson and the Red Rams ultimately edged the Cavaliers 2-1.
Notching the Red Rams’ first goal was Zay Hubbard, who was assisted by Carson Dixon. Dixon’s foot would prove to be the difference maker, as he broke the 1-1 tie with 15 minutes left in regulation to give Hamlet the game-winning goal.
“We played really well 90 percent of the game,” Nicholson said. “But we made some really bad mistakes on the defensive end, Hopefully when we get back to full strength we will correct these mistakes and make a strong run in the playoffs.
The Red Rams are now 7-2 on the season and will have to wait to see how Ellerbe plays Thursday against Spring Hill Middle School. If Ellerbe wins, the Wildcats will be the regular season conference champions and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with home field advantage.
If Ellerbe falls, that would give both identical records, but allow the Red Rams to jump into first place because they gave Ellerbe its only loss of the season in Week 1.
Note: The Rockingham Middle School boys’ and girls’ soccer teams’ regular seasons are also over. Both the Rockets and Lady Rockets earned the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
