Knights blank Epiphany 2-0 in playoff debut

A quick goal by Greenfield School junior Darcy Dean in the fourth minute of Saturday’s NCISAA 2-A girls soccer third-round playoff game was, as it turned out, all the Knights would need — along with another 76 minutes of lockdown defense against The Epiphany School of New Bern.

Greenfield, the No. 5 seed playing its first postseason game, posted its third straight shutout and eighth this spring with a 2-0 victory that sent it to the quarterfinals Monday at home against Fayetteville Christian (14-5), which spared the Knights a road trip by upsetting No. 4 Fayetteville Academy 1-0 in overtime.

Gretchen Daniel, an eighth grader in goal, stopped all six shots by Epiphany (9-10), the sixth-place team from the eight-team 2-A/3-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference.

Greenfield, which finished third in CPIC, turned immediately to Dean, its top scorer. Sydney Coolbaugh, another eighth grader, played a through ball to Dean, who got past the last Falcons defender and the onrushing keeper for her 20th goal.

The 1-0 lead stood until the 63rd minute when the Knights doubled it on a gorgeous shot by Coolbaugh from some 22 yards that tucked under the crossbar. Avery Williams had the assist.

The winner Monday will head into the semifinals Thursday against the winner of top-seeded Trinity Academy (10-2) and No. 8 Village Christian (11-7). The NCISAA 2-A championship match will be played Saturday, May 18, on the campus of North Carolina Wesleyan University in Rocky Mount.

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