MACON — Pinecrest Academy coach Chris Kane made a bold prediction on the eve of Saturday’s GISA state championship game.

During a team dinner Saturday night, Kane not only told his players that they would win the title, he even gave them a final score.

Less than 24 hours later, the Paladins executed their coach’s called shot perfectly, earning the state championship with a 3-1 win against Frederica Academy at neutral venue Mount de Sales Academy.

It’s the first state championship in the history of Pinecrest soccer program, after the team fell short in the title game the previous two seasons.  

“Words can’t describe how I’m feeling right now for these guys,” said Kane, as cries of “state champions” rang out from nearby fans.

“They’ve worked so hard for the last two years with me and they deserve this.

“They deserve this.”

Frederica drew first blood, though, as a defensive mix-up led to a goal in the eighth minute.

Miguel Martelli got credit for the score, but it was a sliding tackle by Ben Frain, who attempted to prevent the score, that caused the ball to ricochet off the striker’s shin and across the line.

“It was early in the game and it was a flub,” said Kane. “I told our players all year that the only team that could beat them was themselves.”

Despite the setback, Pinecrest continued to attack and tied the game on a score by J.P. Metz, serving as proof that Kane’s premonitions went further beyond the final score.

“And I even said, you can ask the players this, that J.P. Metz was going to score with his feet today because he’s scored all headers all year,” the coach said.

In the 19th minute, Pinecrest captain Nico Sanchez delivered a corner kick that was headed at goal by Ernesto Ochoa, forcing a save from the goalkeeper, and just as Kane anticipated, Metz came through with a side-footed rebound from close range to even the game 1-1.

David Reichardt supplied the go-ahead goal in the 24th minute, when he scooped up a defense-splitting pass by J.P. Holdworth into the penalty and didn’t break stride before smashing in a low shot.

Reichardt threatened Frederica throughout the day, narrowly missing two other goals with shots off the crossbar, as the Paladins outshot their opponents 20-6.

The Knights’ attacks were less frequent after losing the lead, but they almost surprised Pinecrest with an equalizer goal after the break, when Harrison Benefield crashed a long-distance shot off the crossbar.

Their hopes were finally dashed, though, after the Paladins scored again in the 51st minute. Sanchez, playing on the wing, sent a piercing pass to Ricardo Garcia-Rulfo, who turned a defender before moving in on goal.

“It was a great pass and I was lucky to get it down,” he said, recapping the moment that completed his coach’s pre-game prediction. “I saw the goalkeeper backpedaling and just put it into the corner where he was coming from.”
As the clock wound down into the final minute, the Paladins bench began to quietly celebrate, as fans counted down the remaining 10 seconds.

Moments after the buzzer, the champions gathered in a huddle, jumped up and down, sang, and sprayed water bottles into the air.

“It’s awesome ... we played for all the Pinecrest teams that finished runners-up,” Reichardt said of the outcome.

“We gave everything.”