Another — and more important — meeting with Lake Norman is a distinct possibility.
The Smith-coached Hough boys’ and girls’ teams each had to go through Lake Norman in the playoffs last season in order to advance to the state semifinals. So this fall’s series between the two schools, while tilted in Hough’s favor at the moment, may not be over just yet.
“I think it’s a good possibility it could happen,” Lake Norman coach Jon Mertes said of a potential third meeting.
The teams that tied 2-2 in the first meeting have some work to do before that potential matchup, which would occur in the fourth round of the 4A playoffs that begin Nov. 2. But Hough earned the league’s top postseason spot at home Monday in a competitive contest that lived up to the high expectations the Lake Norman-Hough series has developed in a short amount of time.
Hough (18-1-2 overall, 12-0-1 I-Meck) took a 1-0 lead with 13:58 to play in the first half when Santiago Patino scored off an assist from Nathaniel Goodwin, who scored a hat trick in the first 15 minutes of Hough’s match with Mooresville last week. The Huskies held the one-goal edge until midway through the second half when Patrick Andreas followed a rebounded Michael Basnett shot to extend the lead to 2-0.
Lake Norman (16-2-4, 11-1-1) scored its lone goal with 7:06 remaining on an Ian Orr header, but it was too little too late.
“This is where I expected us to be,” said Smith, whose team has more than doubled its regular season win total from last year. “This is what we’ve been working for.”
The teams were to close the regular season Wednesday, but even if Mallard Creek gave Hough its first conference loss and Lake Norman beat Mooresville, which would leave Hough and Lake Norman with the same record, Hough would own the tiebreaker with the Wildcats based on the season series.
The Huskies defeated East Lincoln 3-1 in non-conference play last Wednesday behind goals from Basnett, James Jackson and Tanner Roberts. The 6-1 win over Mooresville also included goals from Patino, Andres Duarte and Kevin Husselbee.
