Warhorses return to regional championship
Owen pushes past Lincoln Charter, 3-1
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
November 10, 2023
A year after their first trip to the NCHSAA 2A West Regional Soccer Championship, the Warhorses will make their second straight appearance in the match, at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 14, in Warhorse Stadium.
The reigning state champion and top seed in the west clinched its spot, Nov. 9, with a 3-1 victory over Lincoln Charter.
The No. 13 Eagles returned to the Swannanoa Valley after falling to Owen in the semi-final match in 2022. The Warhorses, who entered the contest two days after a third-round victory in a penalty kick shootout, came out with an aggressive offensive approach.
“We wanted to be on the front foot from the beginning, and make the game high-intensity,” head coach Trei Morrison said after the match. “We did that for the entire first half.”
Junior Owen Lollis gave Owen a 1-0 advantage in the 26th minute, fielding a well-placed pass on the right side and beating the Lincoln Charter defense for a goal.
A pair of seniors connected in the final 17 seconds of the half for the Warhorses’ second goal of the night, as Daniel Garcia assisted Elijah Caro for his third of four goals in the last two matches.
The Eagles responded by putting pressure on Owen in the second half, slipping the ball into the net in the 66th minute to cut the lead to 2-1.
Caro, however, put the contest out of reach for good with just over 18 seconds remaining, drawing a foul on the attack and converting the penalty kick opportunity.
“We knew we just had to absorb that pressure and try to hit them with the counter,” Caro said. “The boys back there did a fantastic job and they got it up to me a couple of times, and we got it done.”
Returning to the regional championship is an “amazing feeling,” according to the team’s leading scorer.
“I think we’ve worked the hardest of any team in the state,” Caro said. “We were out here June 10 working, the first day after school. We haven’t stopped working since, so I think we deserve it.”
An emotional Garcia called this postseason “surreal.”
“I’m just so happy right now, because (Nov. 7) was my birthday, and after practice, coach was talking to us about our performance against Patton,” he said. “I think I realized when I’m playing I just have to have fun, and I kind of lost that. Today, I really thought about what he said and it really changed my game, dramatically.
“I just have to thank him so much for being the best coach I’ve ever had,” Garcia continued. “He’s really made me love this game again, and I can’t thank him enough.”
Morrison was proud of the performance of his players against an “excellent” Lincoln Charter team.
“I think that’s the best team we’ve played since Roberson,” he said. “But, we went back to who we are. I talked to them about intensity, and they really proved tonight that when they decide to play the way we want to play, we can get it done.”
The Warhorses have won eight straight matches, and their sole loss of the season came in August against 4A T.C. Roberson. They have outscored their opponents by a combined 121-10 in 2023.
Owen will face 21-2-1 Community School of Davidson next week to determine the top spot in the west. The Spartans are coming off a 3-0 victory over No. 3 Salisbury.
“Last year we were able to fly under the radar, coming in as a 10 seed, but this year we have a target on our back,” Morrison said. “We just have to be mentally prepared, and believe in ourselves. Physically, we’re super fit and understand the way we want to play. We just need to be tough, have confidence in ourselves and get it done.”
Photos of Owen’s fourth-round playoff victory over Lincoln Charter can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.