CHAPEL HILL — It was 80 minutes of intense soccer with the District 6-A crown on the line, but in the end the Forrest Rockets scored two goals within a 4-minute stretch of the second half to come from behind and defeat the Community Vikings 2-1 Thursday night.
The game was full of close chances for both teams, but only three goals found the back of the net as goalies Josh Rumley of the Rockets and Reily Anica of the Vikings expended lots of energy to keep the ball out of the nets.
After the Rockets missed two close shots at goal in the first 12 minutes, the Vikings took advantage of a corner kick and found pay dirt in the 19th minute as Ramon Hernandez lofted the ball in front of the goal and Nicky Anica headed it in to give Community a 1-0 lead.
The Vikings knocked on the door with two close-range shots that could not find the mark in the 28th minute and Community avoided a Rocket miss over the goal in the final minute as the Vikings took their 1-0 lead into the intermission.
The teams traded opportunities to score in the first 14 minutes of the second half before the game took a disturbing turn as Viking defenseman Malakai Martin was injured after a collision. 
Emergency personnel arrived on the scene as Martin was taken off the field by ambulance.
After a long delay, the teams resumed play. 
In the 64th minute, the Rockets had a corner kick from Hugo Pelsser that sailed a foot in front of the goal. 
The shot headed off a Viking defender for an own goal as Forrest tied the game at 1-1.
In the 67th minute, Pelsser was a part of the second Rocket goal as he led Collin McMillan on a perfect pass and McMillan followed with the score to give Forrest its first lead at 2-1.
The Vikings narrowly missed an opportunity for a goal in the 72nd minute as a shot could not find the mark in front of the net.  Community frantically rushed at an attempt to tie the game in the final two minutes, but the Rocket defense was up to the task as Forrest took the win.
"We've been working hard for three years and it's coming together," Coach Jason Ellis of the Rockets said. 
"We've got a youth program and we've got kids buying in."
An early season win may have given the Rockets a glimpse of good things to come during their 2023 season.
"Our first match got canceled and then we played Cascade who the past two years has beat us terribly bad," Ellis said. 
"That was our first game and we were nervous and came out on top 3-0 and we told them then we're special."
"We knew we had something good but we weren't sure how good, and we told the guys the sky's the limit, but it's up to you," Ellis added.
Coach Jesse Cooper of the Vikings was pleased with the effort of his team.     
"That's one thing I told them, I can't be more proud of how they started and finished the game. Just left everything on the field," Cooper said.  
"Then the game restarted after Malakai went down, it's hard to come out and get the momentum back," Cooper added. "One goal went in and the momentum was 100 percent on their side. They got another quick one and it was very, very hard after they scored those two quick goals to get any momentum back."
Both teams return to action Tuesday in the Region 3-A tournament. 
Forrest will host Tyner Academy, the runner-up in District 5-A, while Community will travel to Chattanooga to take on 5A champion CSAS.
                                                                                         
Community   1  0 — 1
Forrest          0  2 —  2
 
First Half
C — Nicky Anica goal from Ramon Hernandez (19th minute).
Second Half
F — Community own goal (64th minute).
F — Collin McMillan goal from Hugo Pelsser (67th minute).