Pace continues march toward state tourney

Pace defeated Clay from the Jacksonville area Tuesday night with a strong all around showing. The Patriots dominated the match, leading all the way.

Josh Kelly scored the 1st goal early when he went one-on-one with the Clay goalkeeper. Pace went up 2-nil a few minutes later when superb Derrick Townley corner kick was headed by Ryan Hampton to Kevin Lewis, who in turn headed it into goal.

Clay, down 2-0 at the half, came out strong in the 2nd half and scored on a corner kick at the 2 minute mark. Pace then took control of the match and never looked back. Pace senior Casey McDonough put the match on ice at the 13th minute when he threaded a loose ball through the Clay defense with an awesome left-footed shot which landed just inside the near post.

The Pace defense put up a strong showing, led by Tim Hughes, Jessie Finley, Ryan Bliss, Josh Holt and Ryan Hampton. Pace controlled the mid-field with purposeful passing by from David Seevers and Ricky Hill. Pace goalie Jeff Benton tallied 7 saves, including 2 superhuman efforts in the 2nd half.

Pace moves on to the North region 1 finals on Feb 19th vs a very strong Orlando Bishop Moore team, at Pace.

-- Report by Bill McDonough