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GREENSBORO — Patrick Parker's dad assisted on the venue. He returned the favor on the game-winner.

Playing on the field where his father, Michael, has coached the UNCG men's soccer team for more than two decades, Patrick set up Mamadee Nyepon's goal in the opening minutes as Page advanced to the NCHSAA 4-A state finals with a 2-0 win over Asheville T.C. Roberson on Wednesday.

Rob Lovejoy added a breakaway goal in the final minute to ice it for Page, which will find out this morning whether it will play the championship match Friday or Saturday. The Pirates will face Cary Green Hope (19-4-2), which defeated Southern Pines Pinecrest 2-1 on Wednesday and last week knocked off top-ranked Durham Jordan.

Page (21-0-2) was the home team, but the Pirates' field has taken such a beating from the rain and from the football and soccer playoffs, Page athletics director Rusty Lee joked that "if someone had spit on the field at Page, it would have flooded."

In stepped Parker, who offered up UNCG Soccer Stadium and its pristine pitch. Patrick repaid the favor just moments into the match, serving up a near-perfect ball from 30 yards out that found a streaking Nyepon for a header into the net.

In a familiar scene, Page continued to pepper the net but failed to draw blood. The Pirates easily could have had a three-goal lead at the half if not for prime scoring chances just missing the net. And that just makes them scarier.

"They have a way of making it sweaty on the sidelines," Pirates head coach Mohamed Jaziri said. "We have to find a way to finish. It's not a physical thing. This one should have been in the bag 15 minutes in."

It didn't matter because the Pirates forced Roberson into offensive purgatory. Page outshot the Rams 17-4 and forced them to hesitate whenever they managed to get the ball across midfield. Jaziri said his team has been working on holding its shape in back and sweeping effectively since a 1-1 tie with Greensboro Day last month.

"That worked for us (Wednesday)," Jaziri said. "It was very difficult for our opponent to penetrate."

With Roberson down to its last breath, the Rams pushed almost everyone ahead in the final minutes and almost got the equalizer on a point-blank shot that nearly left the shooter's foot directly into goalkeeper Tom Jackson's sternum.

The Rams turned the ball over on the ensuing corner kick and Page advanced it quickly up to Lovejoy, who got behind his defender and rattled a shot in off the post to set the stage for one final reach toward glory this weekend.

"Sometimes it doesn't have to be pretty, and this win wasn't necessarily pretty," Jaziri said. "But it was a win nonetheless. As long as they have that mindset, they'll be all right."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com

Page 2, Asheville T.C. Roberson 0
Goals: Page — Mamadee Nyepon, Rob Lovejoy. Assists: Page — Matthew Mills. Shots: Roberson 7; Page 20. Saves: Roberson — Bryan Burke 7; Page — Tom Jackson 3. Corner kicks: Roberson 2; Page 5.
Records: Page: 21-0-2; Roberson 24-2-1.