Coach Is Headed To Seattle
The Carolina Dynamo rolled through the PDL regular season with only two losses. That was good enough to win the South Atlantic Division regular season title and top seed in the Division championship game.
The team they would face would be the Virginia Beach Piranhas, who handed the Dynamo their only two losses. Both were in Virginia Beach.
This time the game would be played on home turf at Macpherson Stadium in Greensboro.
This time the Dynamo won, taking a 2-1 victory that moves them on to the USL Premier Development League’s final four in Ocean City, NJ.
Dynamo head coach Marc Nicholls said before the game that scoring the first goal would be important to win the game. Carolina did that, taking a 1-0 lead in the fist half on a goal by Mamadee Nyepon, who plays at High Point University.[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]
But the win didn’t come easy. After Virginia Beach tied the game in the second half on a Tyler Cyrus penalty kick, the game remained deadlocked when the clock showed 90 minutes and the referee allowed some extra time.
Duke defender Sebastian Ibeagha ended it before the second half whistle blew, getting on the end of a long free kick from Alex Martinez and headed it in the back of the Piranhas goal.
The Dynamo will face the Ocean City Nor’easters in a semifinal match. Two more games to go for the Dynamo players to win a league championship.
But for Nicholls, it was the end of the season. Earlier in the summer he accepted a position as an Academy Director for the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer.
It was too good an opportunity to pass up. He stayed in Greensboro as long as he could, but when the team departs for New Jersey, he and his family will be on the road driving to Seattle.
“We all knew what it meant,” Nyepon said about it being Nicholls last game, speaking to a Greensboro News & Record reporter. “This was his last day, so we had to work hard.
“We love him, and we couldn’t let him down. He’s a great friend to all of us and the best coach I’ve ever had.”
Nyepon, who grew up in Greensboro, is like many of the other Dynamo players in that Nicholls was his coach with the Greensboro Fusion.
Nicholls hadn’t made a big deal about it being his final game as he prepared his team for the game with Virginia Beach. Just another day at the office.
“I really tried hard not to treat it as a last game,’ said Nicholls. “I wanted to win it like any other game.
But what went on around the game made it not just another game.
“I’ve had a number of these players since they were 14 years old, and it gives me great satisfaction to see them have this kind of success.”
Nicholls leaves with a 42-13-6 record with the Dynamo, and a 6-2 postseason record over three seasons.
The Dynamo will take a 10-2-3 record into the PDL semifinals. Virginia Beach finished the year 7-5-3.
The Nor’easters posted an 11-2-1 record in finishing first in the Mid Atlantic Division, and as the host team they have to be considered a big challenge for the Dynamo.
Down the stretch former Bloomfield University striker Dwayne Reid scored seven goals in two games, including both goals that clinched the division with a 2-1 win against Reading United.
The Dynamo won’t have their coach with them physically, but in many ways he’ll still be with them.
“Obviously, we’ll keep him with us in our hearts and minds for the rest of the playoffs,” said Ilbeagha, speaking for himself and for his teammates.
The team they would face would be the Virginia Beach Piranhas, who handed the Dynamo their only two losses. Both were in Virginia Beach.
This time the game would be played on home turf at Macpherson Stadium in Greensboro.
This time the Dynamo won, taking a 2-1 victory that moves them on to the USL Premier Development League’s final four in Ocean City, NJ.
Dynamo head coach Marc Nicholls said before the game that scoring the first goal would be important to win the game. Carolina did that, taking a 1-0 lead in the fist half on a goal by Mamadee Nyepon, who plays at High Point University.[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]
But the win didn’t come easy. After Virginia Beach tied the game in the second half on a Tyler Cyrus penalty kick, the game remained deadlocked when the clock showed 90 minutes and the referee allowed some extra time.
Duke defender Sebastian Ibeagha ended it before the second half whistle blew, getting on the end of a long free kick from Alex Martinez and headed it in the back of the Piranhas goal.
The Dynamo will face the Ocean City Nor’easters in a semifinal match. Two more games to go for the Dynamo players to win a league championship.
But for Nicholls, it was the end of the season. Earlier in the summer he accepted a position as an Academy Director for the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer.
It was too good an opportunity to pass up. He stayed in Greensboro as long as he could, but when the team departs for New Jersey, he and his family will be on the road driving to Seattle.
“We all knew what it meant,” Nyepon said about it being Nicholls last game, speaking to a Greensboro News & Record reporter. “This was his last day, so we had to work hard.
“We love him, and we couldn’t let him down. He’s a great friend to all of us and the best coach I’ve ever had.”
Nyepon, who grew up in Greensboro, is like many of the other Dynamo players in that Nicholls was his coach with the Greensboro Fusion.
Nicholls hadn’t made a big deal about it being his final game as he prepared his team for the game with Virginia Beach. Just another day at the office.
“I really tried hard not to treat it as a last game,’ said Nicholls. “I wanted to win it like any other game.
But what went on around the game made it not just another game.
“I’ve had a number of these players since they were 14 years old, and it gives me great satisfaction to see them have this kind of success.”
Nicholls leaves with a 42-13-6 record with the Dynamo, and a 6-2 postseason record over three seasons.
The Dynamo will take a 10-2-3 record into the PDL semifinals. Virginia Beach finished the year 7-5-3.
The Nor’easters posted an 11-2-1 record in finishing first in the Mid Atlantic Division, and as the host team they have to be considered a big challenge for the Dynamo.
Down the stretch former Bloomfield University striker Dwayne Reid scored seven goals in two games, including both goals that clinched the division with a 2-1 win against Reading United.
The Dynamo won’t have their coach with them physically, but in many ways he’ll still be with them.
“Obviously, we’ll keep him with us in our hearts and minds for the rest of the playoffs,” said Ilbeagha, speaking for himself and for his teammates.
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