RALEIGH, N.C. – Wallace-Rose Hill gave up the first goal in the 2016 1A State Championship Soccer Match, but the Bulldogs netted the next three to take a 3-1 victory over Bishop McGuinness. The victory was the Bulldogs third state championship in as many appearances.
Wallace-Rose Hill dominated play for much of the game with Jack Arnold making 4 saves in the first half to keep things level until teammate Cameron Bovender took a shot off a deflected clear that found the back of the net giving the Villains a 1-0 lead just 20 minutes in.
The Bulldogs kept the pressure high and the effort finally paid off in the 32nd minute as a corner kick pinballed around in the box, dropping to senior Lukas Heither who swept it past the keeper tying the score.
Six minutes later David Sosa finished a beautiful ball by Jorge Aguilar giving Wallace-Rose Hill a lead they did not relinquish.
The highlight of the match, and a career, came in the 47th minute. Bulldog senior forward Maynor Espinoza came into the State Championship Match sitting on 213 goals for his four-year career, tied for the NFHS National Record for career goals with Sean Shapert from Moon High School in Pennsylvania. Shapert held the record from 1984 when he set the mark until Espinoza spun a ball past the Villains keeper to give Wallace-Rose Hill a 3-1 lead and a 1A State Championship. Espinoza was named the match M.V.P.