MORGANTON — Without starters Arael Regino and Demetrio Andrade, Freedom came up short 2-0 against the visiting R-S Central Hilltoppers on Saturday night at the Catawba River Soccer Complex.
The game was a stalemate until R-S Central scored with about four minutes remaining in the first half.
Freedom goalkeeper Stephen Smith looked like he had a bead on a shot, but it took a hop and bounced over his head, finding the back of the net.
In the second half, Freedom aimed to even the score. Led by the efforts of Alexis Regino, Jose Tejeda Calderon and Sylvanus Xiong, Freedom had several chances to score.
However, it was the Hilltoppers who finally struck again when Chris Pendleton scored on a breakaway goal with just minutes to play in the game for a 2-0 lead that held up.
Smith finished with half a dozen saves for Freedom while R-S Central keeper J.T. McClain recorded four saves.
In spite of the loss, Freedom head coach David Fletcher was pleased with his team's performance.
"I thought they played with such tremendous heart," Fletcher said. "I was really proud of them. We were missing Arael and Demetrio Andrade. We were missing two starters, and I thought the guys really stepped up and played hard. We were right there in the game,"
Fletcher has reason to be confident heading into the playoffs, which begin in a few weeks. Saturday night's loss was Freedom's first defeat in about a month.
"I feel like if we get all these guys back that have been hurt, we're really on a good roll going into the playoffs, so I'm very pleased with my kids. They did a good job."
Freedom travels to Chase today and then wraps up the season on Wednesday against Patton at the Catawba River Soccer Complex.
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