Matthew Gorry | The Yadkin Ripple
Forbush’s Ryan Miller battles a Randleman defender for the ball in Wednesday’s opening round playoff match.
Matthew Gorry | The Yadkin Ripple
Forbush’s Jacob Funk goes up for a header on a corner kick against Randleman Wednesday in the opening round of the 2A state playoffs.
KING - After a hard-fought 3-2 opening-round win over Randleman on Halloween night, the Falcons were grounded Saturday night, dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to West Stokes.
Forbush jumped out to a 2-0 halftime advantage against the sixth-ranked Wildcats Saturday in the 2A state playoff second round, but were unable to hold the lead.
West quickly tied things up early in the second half before Austin Snow put home the game-winner at the 30:22 mark to complete the comeback and put the Wildcats into the third round.
Forbush ends its season at 17-2-2 after compiling a 12-1-1 mark in the Mountain Valley Conference. The Falcons ascended to the top of Eurosports’ 2A state rankings earlier this year and spent the entire season ranked.
In the playoff-opening win against Randleman, Forbush used a late Jason McCormick goal to pull out the thrilling 3-2 win on Halloween night.
The Falcons fell behind early and played from behind for 70 minutes until McCormick’s goal put them ahead for good.
After the Tigers got the board at the 29:28 mark, Forbush peppered the net looking for the equalizer. Forbush recorded eight shots on the goal in the opening half before Oscar Guadarrama finally broke through late in the half.
Guadarrama received a long cross before putting it past the keeper at the 1:08 mark to tie the game at 1-1.
In the second half, the Falcons fell behind again after a Tiger goal gave Randleman a 2-1 lead with just over 25 minutes left to play.
Less than 10 minutes later, Guadarrama brought Forbush even again with his second goal of the night to knot things at 2-all.
The Falcons finally took the lead when McCormick scored the go-ahead breakaway goal at the 9:17 mark.
Keeper Ian Grooms and the Forbush defender turned away several chances in the waning minutes of the match to secure the 3-2 win.
Reach Matthew Gorry at 835-1513 or mgorry@heartlandpublications.com.
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