Gryphons open Big East action with resounding win over Bulldogs

Rocky Mount High’s Sarah Bland (1) shoots the ball against Nash Central goalkeeper Anna Shaye Thompson (24) on Monday at Nash Central High School. Catalano’s goal was Rocky Mount High’s ninth, which ended the match with 15:21 left on the clock.

Rocky Mount High’s Schuyler Moss (11) maneuvers through the Nash Central defense Monday at Nash Central High School.

Just when it felt like all its momentum was halted, Rocky Mount High found its mojo again.

A frustrating performance Friday night in a loss to Greenville Rose was redeemed by what coach Jordan Musselwhite described as one of the better performances of the season as the Gryphons trounced Nash Central, 9-0, to win their conference opener Monday.

Rocky Mount High (7-3, 1-0) dominated the game for almost all 65 minutes, scoring three times in the opening 10 minutes and finishing it with two goals in three minutes.

“Coming back after not playing so well Friday, it was nice to come out a couple of days after that and put a complete game out there,” Musselwhite said.

The Gryphons’ success stemmed from a dominance in the midfield with juniors Barkley Browder and Erin Cooke leading the way in the middle. The pair seemed to have all the right answers in the first half, distributing the ball at will to the forwards and wings to create numerous scoring chances.

“Our midfield is one of the strengths of this team, especially with Erin and Barkley in the middle,” Musselwhite said. ”When we play most teams this year, I feel like we’ll have the upperhand in the midfield because of those two.”

Cooke said the midfield’s performance was a credit to the team’s ability to have all three position groups connecting fluidly with the ball moving from the defenders to the midfielders to the forwards with ease. That efficiency kept the Bulldogs (3-4-1, 0-1) off kilter and chasing the ball around the field for most of the day.

“We possessed well from the back up instead of having a kickball sense of a game,” Cooke said. ”We went from the back to the mid to the wing, and we didn’t try to force it on the outside, we went back in and that’s how we created shots.”

A sibling connection created the first goal of the game as senior Schuyler Moss found her sister, Katie, in front of the goal for an easy strike. Within eight minutes, the lead swelled to 4-0 as the Gryphons’ attack overwhelmed the Bulldogs’ defense.

Anna Shaye Thompson did her best to keep the door shut for the Bulldogs, but the sophomore was left alone to deal with the attack a few times. She made two diving stops in the first half that led to goals due to poor clearances, and Sarah Bland got the better of Thompson on one-on-one situations to score the final two goals.

Thompson finished with 15 saves.

Although Rocky Mount High found plenty of space to operate in the middle and took advantage numerous times, the Gryphons also utilized their speed on the wings effectively with eight of the nine goals starting with a pass from a player on the outside.

“We did a lot of damage on the wings,” Musselwhite said. ”We didn’t necessarily finish a lot of them, but we played down the wings a lot, which will help us a lot transitioning to Wednesday.”

The increased confidence will be helpful as Rocky Mount High prepares to battle Wilson Hunt on the road Wednesday. The Gryphons lost three hard-fought games last year to the Warriors during the regular season and conference tournament, but finally clipped them in the first round of the state playoffs.

With the step up in the level of competition, there are certain tactics that worked against Nash Central that won’t work against Hunt. The Gryphons will need to use the wings more against the Warriors with the space in the middle of the field being hotly-contested.

Regardless, the victory proved to be a confidence builder for a team looking to find some consistency at the midpoint of the season.

“We can learn that we can’t take as many shots outside,” Cooke said, ”but if we possess the ball into the box and hit it low and to the corner like we did (Monday), we’ll have a better opportunity to win.”

Rocky Mount High 9

Nash Central 0

Goals: RMH — Katie Moss (5’), Schuyler Moss (8’), Sarah Bland (9’, 20’, 62’, 65’), Mary McCall Leland (13’), Erin Cooke (37’, 39’)

Shots: RMH — 38 (28 on goal); NC — 1 (0 on goal)

Saves: NC — Anna Shaye Thompson 15

by Josh Walfish
Sports Writer for Rocky Mount Telegram

Monday, March 21, 2016