AHOSKIE n It was an important win.

Ridgecroft School entered Saturday afternoon’s matchup with Coastal Plains Independent Conference foe Kerr-Vance Academy with a 2-3-1 record in the league.

Second-year coach Aaron Martin was adamant the Rams needed to win Friday and avenge a 2-0 earlier-season loss to KVA.

After 80 minutes of play Friday afternoon, Martin and the Rams were pleased as Ridgecroft grabbed a 4-2 league win.

“We definitely needed this one,” Martin said. “We needed to solidify our seeding in the state playoffs.”

While he was pleased to get the win, the coach wasn’t always pleased with his team’s play.

“At times we didn’t make it pretty, but we got the job done when it counted,” he said. “We played in spurts today, but we need to be more consistent and steady in our play.”

The first nine minutes were uneventful until Kerr-Vance had a huge scoring opportunity with 31 minutes to play in the first half.

Ridgecroft keeper Ethan Phelps made a good save and gave the ball back to the Rams’ offense, who promptly got off a good shot from Josh Morris, which missed high.

A minute later, Phelps had another important save to keep the game scoreless.

Ridgecroft junior Zach Futrell finally broke the scoring drought with 22 minutes to play when he scored on an assist from senior Chris Hill to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.

John Falkner responded for Kerr-Vance when he scored at the 11:15 mark of the first period to deadlock the score at 1-all.

With just over five minutes to play, the Rams had a scoring opportunity rejected when a fullback inadvertently stuck out his hand and stopped what would have been an open-goal score.

Hill converted the ensuing penalty kick to give Ridgecroft a 2-1 lead at the half.

KVA tied the game early in the second half when freshman Tyler Overby netted one just over Phelps’ outstretched arms.

“When they got the equalizer, we didn’t put our heads down,” Martin said. “We came right back.”

The Rams did indeed score less than five minutes later when Evans Jones made a perfect pass from near midfield and Hill converted right in front of the net to give Ridgecroft a 3-2 advantage.

Morris sealed the win for the Rams with fewer than two minutes to play when he hit the back of the net to make it 4-2.

Ridgecroft will be back in CPIC action Tuesday when they host top-ranked Greenfield School.