By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

EAST BEND — Forbush’s girls soccer program celebrated its 10th year of existence last spring by posting the most successful season in school history.

The Falcons went undefeated in conference, won their first Western Region championship and advanced to the state title game before falling to First Flight 2-1 in a hard-fought contest.

The 22 wins, 131 goals scored and meager 13 goals surrendered all were program bests, as were Jessica Baity’s 35 goals during the season and goalie Courtney Phillips’ 323 career saves.

The 2008 Falcons — especially seniors Phillips, Kelly Wood, Bella Cochrane, Erin Holcombe and Audrey Niemeyer — set the bar high for Forbush girls soccer teams coming along behind them.

The thought coming into 2009 was that this year’s Forbush team would be good again, but probably not quite as good as ‘08. The best hope, many surmised, would be for this year to serve as a bridge to a possible state title run in 2010.

So much for that theory.

Just one year after the season of a lifetime, the 2009 Falcons forged another one.

Coach Kenan James’ team held onto its conference title with another undefeated record, captured another 2A West Regional crown with last Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Hibriten and then played for a state championship yet again on Saturday at NC State’s Paul Derr Stadium.

The final game of 2009 didn’t finish like the Falcons would have preferred — a gut-wrenching 2-1 loss in what amounted to triple overtime against Swansboro — but it’s hard to argue that this year’s encore season was anything but amazing.

“At the beginning of this season, the girls said this is going to be different,” James said before the state title game. “That was our meeting at the beginning. But we talked about how it’s going to be different but it can be a good different.”

‘Good different’ has been a team that found many ways to win — and advance through a tough post-season slate. In some games, it meant burying opponents with a huge salvo of goals right off the bat. In others, like state quarterfinal and state semifinal wins over Shelby and Hibriten, it meant withstanding the opposing teams’ best shots early, only to turn the tide in the second half.

Baity, now a sophomore, was a huge force again, leading the Falcons with 38 goals this spring and garnering all-state status for the second year in a row. But there were plenty of other offensive weapons to boot, like Lindsey Lineberry, who scored both goals in last Wednesday’s comeback win over Hibriten.

Speedsters Leticia Patino and Katelynd Caudle could create havoc in the penalty box as evidenced by each scoring a goal in the May 23 quarterfinal win over Shelby. It was Patino’s header in the box after a Baity corner kick that set up Caudle’s goal Saturday against Swansboro.

Last Wednesday, it was Forbush’s midfield and defense, spearheaded by players like Jessica Tucker, Bailey Stinson, Kayla Cline, Cari Beck, Krystle Matthews and keeper Kayla Adams, who stood their ground against an early barrage of attacks by Hibriten.

“I think this team, they play with a lot of passion,they play with a lot of heart, and they play together,” James said following that win. “I’m not really surprised that we’re at this point. In fact, I told the girls if we play well, we’re going to go to Raleigh. I really felt like that.”

Against both Shelby and Hibriten, Forbush seemed to find a different gear in the second half, turning a back-and-forth battle for possession into a mostly one-sided game of keep-away by the girls from East Bend in bright red jerseys.

It took a little halftime admonishment from James on Wednesday night to get his team rolling. Hibriten led 1-0 at the break, getting a score at the 16:10 mark from Hallie Hilliard, who stole a goal kick and pounded it back into the Falcons’ net.

It was the Panthers’ only real shot of the half, but Hibriten had controlled possession for most of the first 40 minutes.

“I give Hibriten credit. They dictated the pace of play,” James said. “They did an awesome job in the midfield of just controlling it and winning everything in the midfield in the first half.

“I just told the girls, ‘Look up in the stands, look at all those people coming to watch you play, and you didn’t play, at all, for 40 minutes.’ I sort of got on them at halftime and they picked up their intensity in the second half.”

Forbush started wearing down Hibriten’s defense right off the bat once play resumed. Lineberry got free on a breakaway down the left side two minutes into the second half and just missed on a shot back to the right.

Two more breakaways by Lineberry 10 and 12 minutes into the period also were swallowed up by Hibriten keeper Tessa Hart. But there was a sense by then that it was only a matter of time before the Falcons could break through.

That time came with 19:55 left in the half. Baity got loose down the left side, juked a defender and then played the ball to teammate Tara Baity. She then flicked to Lineberry, who sent a roller into the net for the game-tying score.

Hibriten went back on the attack for a couple of minutes, but Forbush held its ground, with Adams making a couple of important saves. Forbush then scored what would be the game-clincher with 9:15 left.

Stinson won possession in the midfield, then sent a perfect pass to Lineberry streaking down the left sideline. Lineberry had no problems converting this opportunity into a goal for the 2-1 lead.

“I was on a breakaway and I just outran the keeper,” Lineberry said. “I think it’s awesome we have another chance (at going to the state title game). It’s definitely not the same team as last year, but it’s still good. It’s just good in different ways.”

Kelly Wood, now playing volleyball for NC State, was often the heart and soul of last year’s team. Last Wednesday night, James said that Jessica Tucker took on that role. Her play in the midfield turned the tide in favor of the Falcons.

“She played her heart out,” James said. “That’s what we needed. We just needed to pick up our effort in the second half, and she sort of led the effort.”

Forbush knew even before Wednesday’s game ended who had won the 2A East championship. Swansboro’s game with Cardinal Gibbons started earlier than the Forbush-Hibriten game, and the Falcons’ PA announcer let fans know the outcome as soon as it went final

The Pirates beat Gibbons 1-0, getting the game-winner from Joy Oswalt with 3:01 left in regulation. A free kick from about 40 yards away set up the score.

Though most expected Cardinal Gibbons to win the East, Swansboro certainly proved a worthy state champ. They were physical, fast, persistent and, like Forbush did in earlier playoff games, overcame a sluggish start to win the 2A title match.

“They found feet very well,” Forbush’s Jessica Baity said, using soccer-speak for great player-to-player passing. “They used their defenders well and attacked out of the back. They had a couple of really great players that they used. They marked well and they stepped to the ball. They are a very strong team, and they stepped up together. That was very commendable.”

The Pirates, coached by former Watauga chief Doug Kidd, lost only to 3A state champion Jacksonville White Oak during the spring, and that was back in March.

Cardinal Gibbons’ had been ranked No. 1 in the state all season. The loss to Swansboro was the Crusaders’ first and only of the spring.

GIbbons beat Forbush 2-0 in a special March 28 showcase tournament in Wilson. The field that day featured plenty of mud and standing water, which neutralized the Falcons’ speed somewhat.

“I’m a bit surprised at Cardinal Gibbons,” James said. “They are going to 3A next year. I’m sure they wanted a chance at a championship this spring.”

Conventional wisdom may have said that Forbush was the underdog going into Saturday’s contest, considering it lost 2-0 to a team that Swansboro beat.

But the Falcons certainly didn’t play like it. And had a few things turned a different way, Forbush very well could have been hoisting the state championship trophy instead of the runner-up prize.

“I felt like we had opportunities to go up 2-1 with great runs by Baity, Lineberry, Patino,” James said. “Our corner kicks were dangerous too, but the Swansboro defense was up to the task. We were good in the sudden ‘victory’ period too but Swansboro caught a break in the final seconds and won the game. They are a great team with great players that went out and earned the championship.

“But I’m very proud of my girls and what they’ve accomplished.”

An amazing encore indeed.