RALEIGH — Apex and Leesvile Road — winners of the last two 4-A state titles — added another chapter to their budding rivalry Friday night in a physical, defense-oriented match that was much closer than the final score indicated.

In the second round of the state playoffs, the Pride and Lady Cougars played almost 48 mintues of bruising, scoreless soccer before Leesville freshman forward Caroline Gentry scored the first of her two goals that pushed Leesville to a 2-0 win and moved the Pride to the third round.

After one half and another eight minutes of scoreless play, Gentry rebounded her own shot off Apex keeper Mari Edwards to break the ice and give the Pride a 1-0 lead with 32:32 left in the game.

The Pride got another 13 shots on goal in the second half, the final one ending with another goal from Gentry. This time, she ran 40 yards downfield, cut inside the defender to the middle of the field from the left, then sent a curveball that hooked right past the Apex keeper with 20 seconds left.

It marked the 15th goal of the year for Gentry, who along with senior Nitang Jones, has led the Pride all year up front and helped Leesville remain undefeated at 19-0-3.

“She and Jones make a great combo up front,” said Leesville coach Paul Dinkenor. “Those two are a lot to handle.”

Crucial to the Pride’s win was its halftime adjustments, as it was able to dominate possession in the second half.

“I think that we closed the first half well, our defense played well. We made a couple changes and started to come back at full strength,” Dinkenor said.

“[At halftime] we talked about how they weren’t going to give it to us. Teams like Apex, they make you work for it. I was pleased with the intensity we showed.”

The Pride will have to show similar intensity in its next game as it attempts to defend the state championship title it won last spring.

Meanwhile, Apex’s storybook season comes to a close. The Lady Cougars (12-4-3) fielded a young team but still won at least a share of the Tri-Eight championship for the 15th time in 16 years. Much of this year’s group will return next year.

“It was a good year. We had a very young team, so this is something we can build on,” said Apex coach Kevin Todd.

“There will be a good nucleus coming back next year.”