DURHAM - Propelled by a two-goal effort from senior midfielder Sam Dunderdale, the Durham Riverside Pirates bounced the Apex Cougars from the NCHSAA playoffs on Saturday evening, ending their season in the second round. No. 10 Riverside will advance to face Broughton.

Apex, ranked No. 13 in the statewide rankings, shut out Northern Durham, 4-0, in the first round of the playoffs, but couldn't muster the same offensive effort against Riverside's seasoned defense.

Cougars goalkeeper Evan Harvey traveled far out of his net to make a stop on Riverside's Gabe Rivera early. However, the home team took an early lead not long after. Dunderdale walked in and pulled a tricky shot wide around Harvey. Junior Jared Rist was awarded the only assist.

Apex coach Kevin Todd said swings of momentum are crucial in postseason contests, and his team was not often on the receiving end of those Saturday night.

"We didn't seize our opportunities, in the first half especially, that would have given us the momentum we would have wanted," Todd said. "Those lost chances come back to get you."

Senior midfielder Payne Clark tied the game for Apex (16-6-0). Clark took his time, got Pirates' goalie Ivan Ramirez to commit, then put a hard shot into the middle of the net.

That goal opened the floodgates for both teams. Both goaltenders were pelted with shots, with a shot from Riverside's Jared Brisk soaring over the net. Apex had a couple of chances in the first half, but was whistled offsides both times.

Rist set up Tyler Sneed, who sent an arching shot that somehow found its way behind Harvey to give the Pirates (16-3-1) the go-ahead goal.

Midway through the second half, Dunderdale scored his second of the night. Dunderdale got a good foot on it and sent it soaring into the upper corner of the net. Senior Ulises Lopez earned the assist.

Todd said the final goal was Apex's back-breaker, even though there was plenty of time left on the clock.

"When we scored we had some spirit, but then they came back and scored so fast afterwards. It sort of deflated us," Todd said. "We shouldn't have allowed that to happen.

"We just never got back on track offensively after that third goal."

Things got a little heated late in the game when yellow cards were distributed to Apex senior defender Eric Porter and another was given to the team. The Cougars barely mustered anything else offensively and now face an offseason longer than Todd and his team would have liked.

Todd said it would take time before the team is ready to reflect back on the season.

"It takes time, sometimes, to reflect on the accomplishments of a team. We had a good conference record and we had some very brilliant moments throughout the season. We're proud of our seven-game winning streak,"Todd said. "For me, I can look back at it right now, but for the players, it will take a little longer."

Green Hope advances to third round

The Green Hope boys soccer team is the only Tri-Nine Conference team alive in the third round of the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs after handing Sanderson a 2-1 loss on Saturday.

The Tri-Nine champs, ranked No. 9 in the state, improved to 16-2-4 on the year with goals from Nader Jaibat and Andrew Wolschlag. Wolschlag now has two of his team's three postseason goals.

Assists came from Sam Rossabi and John James.

On Tuesday, the Falcons played at unbeaten and untied Durham Jordan (21-0-0), ranked one of the top five soccer teams in the nation. The story from that game can be found on carynews.com/sports.