ELLERBE — Not two hours after its Lady Rocket counterparts earned their own respective conference championship, the Rockingham Middle School boys’ soccer team swept the Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference title games Thursday.
The No. 3 Rockets were also on the road looking to upset No. 1 Ellerbe Middle School, and they, too, would have to claim the banner in penalty kicks. Rockingham would upset Ellerbe 2-1, winning 3-2 in the shootout.
After losing to the Wildcats 5-1 in the regular season, the Rockets put together a run that saw them roll past No. 6 West Hoke and No. 2 Hamlet middle schools in the first two rounds of the playoffs to meet Ellerbe in the title game.
“It’s what we needed to improve,” head coach Daniel Webb said. “We proved that we could do this by beating the two teams we previously lost to.
“It’s hard to put a spotlight on just a few players this year because everybody pulled together to fill the positions we needed,” he added.
Daniel Webb’s Rockets would score the first goal of the game in the 16th minute. After Ellerbe had a couple of early chances, it would be Rockingham’s Carlos Vargas who booted the ball past Ellerbe keeper Konner Carter.
A pass from the near sideline found Vargas, who put it in from 15 yards out. The 1-0 lead for Rockingham would hold until the half time break.
Head coach Jimmy Chavez and the Wildcats weren’t finished, as Kevin Cortes would net the equalizer in the 43rd minute. Cortes launched a shot from 40 yards out that sailed over Rockets’ goalkeeper Emerson Wall’s hands, banging into the back post corner.
The final 17 minutes of regulation would go scoreless for both teams, bringing the title down to a penalty kick shootout.
Rockingham’s first three shooters would all find the twine, starting with Chris Lopez beating Carter to the lower left corner. After Henry Zapata’s shot was high for Ellerbe, Jed Davis gave the Rockets a 2-0 lead with a score to the right side of the net.
Cortes cut the deficit to one in Ellerbe’s second attempt, netting the ball to Wall’s right. Andrew Conyers duplicated Lopez’s shot for the eventual championship-winning goal.
A save by Carter on Jeremiah Ritter, coupled with a missed fifth attempt by Rockingham and a made shot by Ellerbe’s Daniel Jaimes, set up Gerardo Aguirre to tie the PK round and force sudden death. But his shot kissed off the crossbar, securing the Rockets’ championship season.
Rockingham finished the 2019 campaign with a 10-2 overall record, while Ellerbe recorded a 9-2 mark.
