The Stallions from QGHS hosted and proceeded to defeat the Highland Tech Rams 5-1 in the NCHSAA 1A Championships in a first round victory on a perfect day for Fall soccer.
The boys from QGHS dominated the match from the outset when they quickly scored only 3:00 minutes into the game when senior midfielder Jake Braswell smacked a nice shot past the Rams goal keeper giving the home team a 1-0 advantage.
The Stallions controlled the tempo of this game and really had little trouble handling any counterattack the Rams tried to mount. Coach Guercio’s crew managed the time of possession and applied pressure on the Rams defense throughout the entire contest.
With 8:00 minutes into the match Jamie Membrano scored his first goal of the game putting the Stallions up 2 -0 setting the tone of the contest for the home team who now had all the momentum on their side.
Mario Portillo the Stallions leading goal scorer at 37:00 minutes hit a rocket past the Rams goal keeper giving the home boys a commanding 3-0 lead before the end of the first half feeling real confident with only 40 minutes remaining the game.
In the second half Portillo scored his second goal of the match at 50:00 minutes giving  the Stallions a huge advantage with a 4-0 lead with only 30 minutes remaining in the contest.
However, just five minutes later on a penalty shot the Rams scored their only goal when a Highland Tech player hit a missile just past the outstretched arms of the Stallions talented goal keeper Jose Duarte making the score 4-1.
The Stallions added their final score when Jamie Membrano poked in his second goal of the game giving the home team a 5-1 lead. At this point in the game the match was decided and the Stallions were thinking about moving on to the second round.
The Stallions would play in the second round of the NCHSAA 1A Championships on the road against the Gray Stone Day Knights on Saturday November 4th which should be a closely contested game.
