AHOSKIE – The Ridgecroft Rams captured the championship trophy the inaugural Ridgecroft Invitational Tournament with a 4-0 win over Pasquotank here Saturday.

The victory capped the two-day tournament which also featured Hertford County High School and Ridgecroft’s junior varsity squad, a last minute replacement for Pungo Christian Academy.

Ridgecroft quickly took control of the match.

Their footwork and ability to move the ball and switch fields kept Pasquotank on the defensive.

For most of the first half, the Panthers had only one player forward, while the other players dropped back in an effort to protect the goal.

Senior Chris Hill put the Rams on the scoreboard with a lob shot from the left side.

Hanes Joyner added a second goal with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half.

The ball deflected off a Pasquotank player inside the box and Joyner’s ensuing shot found the inside corner of the net.

Pasquotank had few chances to score in the first half and when fast break opportunities did come, but the Panthers were undermanned as the Ridgecroft fullbacks were quicker and able to drop back on defense to stop the attack.

PCHS came out in the second half with a more balanced attack, but weren’t able to break through the Rams defense.

On the other side of the field, Ridgecroft kept the Pasquotank goalie working, landing 23 shots on goal.

Not even three minutes had ticked off the clock before Hill found the net for his second score of the match.

The Panther’s keeper came out of the net in an effort to stop the attack, but Hill was faster and beat him to the ball for a shot at the open goal.

The final score of the day came from Bryan Britton.

His shot to the right side from the bottom of the arc happened so quick the Pasquotank keeper didn’t have an opportunity to make a move to stop it.

The score strengthened the Rams lead to 4-0.

Ridgecroft ended the match with 39 shots while Rams keeper Ethan Phelps had a slow day in the goal, recording only seven saves.

Five of those saves were in the second half.

&uot;It was a grueling two days with the heat and playing back-to-back,&uot; said Rams coach Aaron Martin. &uot;We came to play and were able to string effective passes together.

I have to give Pasquotank credit; they battled hard and kept the score where it was.

&uot;It was a good start to the season,&uot; he added

In the consolation game, Hertford County handed the jayvee Rams an 8-0 loss.It