George Alley has heard from a lot of friends this week. Some he didn’t even know he had.
“I’ve had a lot of phone calls and messages,” Alley said with a smile.
Polk County’s march to the state 3A boys soccer championship match has garnered the attention of many in the community. Some of those fans even turned out early Friday morning to cheer on the team as it departed for Greensboro and Saturday’s final.
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Awaiting the Wolverines at their end of their journey will be Wallace-Rose Hill, the 3A East champions whom Polk will meet Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Guilford College. It will be the fourth state final in Polk County’s history, though the first since 2006, and also the fourth for Wallace-Rose Hill, which won titles in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Since Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Pine Lake Prep, Alley and Polk County (18-0-3) have been busy preparing for both the challenge of stopping the Bulldogs (18-4-1) and trying to do so on Guilford College’s Appenzeller Field. It will be the Wolverines’ first match on artificial turf since an Oct. 20 win at Madison, and the field will also offer the wider dimensions of a college surface.
To gear up for both conditions, Polk practiced Thursday at East Henderson, using the Eagles’ turf. The Wolverines then planned to stop Friday afternoon for a short practice on a wider field en route to Greensboro before attending Friday evening’s 7A final at Appenzeller.
“Today, once we get the practice in, it’s about the experience of being there,” Alley said Friday morning. “I love the fact that we get to do the game (Friday night) and get to see that environment ahead of time.”
Polk will also hope its past will help in the challenge of stopping Wallace-Rose Hill. The Bulldogs, Alley said, remind him much of Patton, which pushed Polk unlike any opponent this season in a 2-2 regular-season draw and a 2-1 Wolverine playoff win. And a tough away match isn’t likely to faze Wallace-Rose Hill, which went on the road Tuesday and defeated North Carolina School of Science and Math-Durham in penalty kicks.
“They’re going to be tough,” Alley said. “They’re like Patton in terms of technical efficiency, but a little more like West Caldwell in terms of wanting to find that guy up the middle. But their outside guys are quick, too, and then they cut inside and get off a shot.
“Their ability to quickly release the ball is a little frightening because we have to be ready, at any moment, for them to shoot. They’re just really solid.”
Senior Feliz Funez is the heart of the Bulldog offense, leading the team with 23 goals and 14 assists. Freshman Wilmer Flores (16 goals, 14 assists) and senior Steven Acosta (15 goals) team with Funez for one of the more dangerous front lines in the 3A ranks.
Junior goalkeeper Angel Sevilla had a key penalty kick stop in Tuesday’s victory and has impressed Alley with his ability in the net. “He’s strong diving one side to the other. He’s a pretty sizable guy and decent in the air,” Alley noted.
Alley doesn’t expect another 1-0 score as in the win over Pine Lake Prep, so finding a means to score on Sevilla and the Wallace-Rose Hill defense will be a must.
“I feel like we’re going to need to score on one set play, and then hopefully we can get one on the run,” he said. “Our goal is always three, but I think it’s going to take at least two. I doubt we’re going to shut this team out.
“It’s also about the mental focus if we do get down. I always tell them, don’t get too high, don’t get too low. I think we’ve scored the first goal in each of our playoff games. But we can’t get too low if they get one in. We just gotta stay the course and keep playing.”
After opening the season with a 2-4-1 start, the Bulldogs have reeled off 16 straight victories, a 4-3 overtime win over Goldsboro starting that streak. No team has scored more than two goals against the Bulldogs in that span, so Polk’s offense will have to capitalize on any chances it can produce.
The Wolverines have worked on that this week while also trying to remain focused despite the outpouring of community support following Tuesday’s victory.
“I think they’re still the same goofy, loose group,” Alley said. “I’m trying to balance that with, how hard do I need to be on them. You really need the focus, but you need the looseness as well. We don’t need to be at 100 right now.
“What I’m pressing for is that this is really about the journey, and the culmination of everything they’ve done. But I’ve also told them that with success comes great responsibility, and you have to behave responsibly and be humble.”
Polk County advanced to Saturday’s final thanks in large part to a goal from senior Tanner Osborn, who struck with 10 seconds left in the first half for the only tally in the regional final. Osborn touched the ball three times in the buildup to the goal, racing downfield to connect passes before burying a Thomas Varnadore pass into the back of the net.
That, Alley said, is the type of effort the Wolverines are going to need plenty of Saturday if they hope to hang a state championship banner.
“When you watch what Tanner did, I told them, who’s going to be Tanner on Saturday?” Alley said. “And then if we wind up with two or three Tanners, that’s going to be huge.”
