BLADENBORO – Junior Heidi Rebollar and sophomore Iveonna “NeNe” Ward scored 1st half goals as East Bladen built a 2-0 lead enroute to a 3-0 Southeastern Athletic Conference girls’ soccer victory over West Bladen Tuesday night.
Heidi Rebollar broke the scoring ice with a Lady Eagle goal in the 27th minute. “Heidi was able to settle the ball on a defensive clear,” said East Bladen Coach Jay Raynor. “She then hit a shot from just outside the 18 and put it past the outstretched arms of their diving keeper.”
Ward tacked on the 2nd goal 10 minutes later. “Nene took a pass from Eliana (Padilla) and was able to dribble a defender before scoring low to the keepers left,” noted Raynor.
Freshman Gabby Rebollar closed out the scoring with a Lady Eagle goal in the 77th minute. “Gabby’s goal came on a rebound from a corner kick that she was able to hit hard past the keeper,” described Raynor.
“Tonight was another great team effort,” said Raynor. “The girls did a great job of controlling the game and the ball. We were able to move the ball around and get numbers forward and we made those runs and pushes towards goal with a purpose. The girls were communicating and playing within the system. They did a great job of following our game plan as well as adhering to our playing philosophy.”
East Bladen outshot the Lady Knights 31-2, but West’s best scoring chance came early. “Reese (Hester) turned away a 1 v 1 shot from (Lainey) Autry who hit a hard low shot that forced Reese into a kick save. It was a great shot and a great save. That would’ve made the game 1-1. That save changed how the remainder of the game was played.”
Raynor added, “Hate to see your keeper have to make saves like that but it also fired our girls up. Reese had a great performance tonight and did all that was asked of her.”
Junior Briana Carranza Toledo racked up 17 saves in goal for the Lady Knights. “We forced their keeper to make numerous tough saves,” shared Raynor. “She had a great night in goal for West.”
“Our midfield was great for us tonight,” noted Raynor. “We committed numbers forward and we looked much better in our attack tonight. Acee (Campbell) was great for us in midfield. She is great defensively but also in helping us transition and switch the point of attack.”
Raynor continued, “Molly (Evans)was dangerous tonight in the flank. She works extremely hard defensively but she is now working just as hard to get forward and involved in our attack. Molly made numerous runs going forward that generated scoring chances for us.”
Senior Eva Ayala-Martinez sparked the Lady Knight defense with 15 steals. Sophomore Haileigh Seabolt was credited with 14 steals, and senior Kaden Thurman came up with 8 steals. Freshman Leidi Zuniga Labra finished with 5 steals for West.
“Jackie (Medina-Leal), Heidi, Gabby, Nene, and Eliana have developed their chemistry over the last few weeks,” stated Raynor. “They all looked comfortable tonight when they were on the ball. Cydney (Campbell) and Macy (Potter) worked hard on the wings. Both ladies were playing box to box and had one of their best games this season. Leah (McGill) came off the bench and gave us some big minutes for Cyd and Macy.”
Raynor added, “The girls are getting better each time out. We are in the process of changing how we have played over the last few years as well as evolve our system and the patterns within it. This group works hard and are fast learners. We moved the ball as a group the best we have all year.”
“We generated more attacks that were dangerous tonight than we have so far this season,” said Raynor. “We are getting a better understanding of what we are trying to do. I thought we were more creative on our corner kicks tonight.”
East Bladen improved to 3-2 in SAC-7 play and 6-3-1 overall. West Bladen is now 0-3 in the SAC-7 and 3-8 overall. The two teams will play again Friday night at East Bladen.
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