MILTON, Ga. – Lucas Pegorer's (2020) 78th minute strike sparked wild celebrations in the Cambridge stands, as the Bears nipped South Forsyth 1-0 at CHS Stadium to open the regular season on Tuesday, February 4th.
Scientists estimate water covers 2/3 of the earth's surface. On this night, goalies Torren Celio (2020) and Christian Lopez (2021) covered the other 1/3 with a little help from their two closest friends, the post and the crossbar. On a wet but unseasonably warm evening in Bear Country, the chances came fast and furious for both sides in a back and forth affair. The wide-open action provided multiple opportunities for goals with South Forsyth having the better of the chances in the first 40 minutes. Cambridge was fortunate not to concede the opening goal as South Forsyth hit the woodwork three separate times in the first half. Celio thwarted multiple South Forsyth opportunities early on including stopping a 1v1 breakaway in the 30th minute, although a boot to the head sent him to the sidelines. Lopez entered the game and continued the shutout to end the half and provided his best work risking life and limb with an outstanding save in the 53rd minute making a brave challenge on a South Forsyth attack. The resulting collision then forced Lopez to the sidelines for the remainder of the night.
Reece Degen's (2020) entry into the match in the 6th minute immediately resulted in Cambridge's best sustained attack as Degen, Pegorer and Carter Johnson (2021) were able to link up and generate multiple opportunities, the most promising being Johnson's turnaround shot from 10 yards that was well saved by South Forsyth. Cambridge made a late run at the opening goal of the first half on a nice series started by Brett Highlander's (2021) long pass to Degen who made a deep run into the box before sending a cross to Erik Holmen (2021) to force a save by the keeper, and the teams remained deadlocked at the break.
The second half saw a more composed and organized Cambridge side as the Bears controlled much more of the run of play. Degen's free kick from 26 yards was just tipped over the bar by the South Forsyth keeper in the 44th minute, which was immediately followed by Highlander's strike off the resulting corner that narrowly missed wide. Holmen forced a save off a semi-bicycled volley off another Cambridge corner, and the teams looked to be heading to a scoreless draw. With 3 minutes remaining, the Bears found the winning formula after Holmen broke free with the ball from a midfield scramble and released Degen on a deep run down the right flank, who then smartly crossed to Pegorer for the winner. Asked about the winning goal, Pegorer said "[t]hat was a complete team play. We obviously had the attack going and Eric Holmen, who had a great game tonight, played a great ball to [Degen] and he cut the ball across the goal and I was just in the right place at the right time."
Any hopes for a stress-free ending quickly evaporated with a resolute South Forsyth emptying the tank to find the equalizer. After a sequence of extreme South Forsyth pressure, Celio once again came up huge to preserve the shutout on a South Forsyth breakaway in the final minute with a diving save to his left. Asked how he kept his composure in the final seconds, Celio smiled and said, "I was freaking out because they obviously got the breakaway, but once I made that save, I knew we were going to win it."
The Bears continue their homestand against Roswell on Friday, February 7th at 7:55PM.
Go Bears!