DUNN – Senior Brooks McGill racked up a ‘Hat Trick’ plus one of 4 goals that sparked East Bladen to a 5-2 victory over Midway Monday night in the non-conference boys soccer opener for both schools.
Midway scored first on a well-placed shot after a foul against the Eagles.
Fifteen minutes later the Eagles tied the score on McGill’s first goal. “Gabe (Barber) played a through ball to Brooks who calmly finished it in the back of net,” said East Bladen Coach Jay Raynor.
Midway took a 2-1 lead with 12 minutes left in the 1st half . “They caught us not getting back and would take a throw-in and a misplayed ball to score,” said Raynor. Moments later the Eagles converted a rebound into the tying goal. Sophomore Jake Evans knocked in a rebound off of a Greyson Heustess shot.
“To be even at half was a good place for us considering the 2 soft goals we gave up,” stated Coach Raynor. “We were able to make a few adjustments but talked more about maturity and focusing on what we could control. We were getting upset over calls or because the ball was not rolling our way at times.”
Ten minutes into the 2nd half the Eagles were awarded a free kick from 25 yards out. ”The keeper handled the ball out of his area, and Brooks stepped up and quickly shot the free kick over his head before he had time to recover,” said Coach Raynor.
Midway the second half junior Pierce Melvin hurled a deep throw-in to McGill who beat the backline and fired in the goal for a 4-2 lead.
McGill tallied his fourth goal three minutes later as Milton Estrada hit a pass to Irvin Hernandez who sent the ball to McGill who finished low into the corner of the net for the final 5-2 margin.
“We did a much better job in the second half of rolling with the punches and not getting
worked up over little things,” said Raynor. “I thought we showed more discipline in the second
half. As the game went on we got better, and after we settled down the game became easier for
us.
“We had a lot of guys step up tonight,” continued Raynor. “Josh Pope and B. J. Monroe fielded the void for us at left back. Jake Evans did well in the midfield and made some solid plays
for us tonight. Our spacing was better and towards the end of the game we looked
more fluid on our attack.”
Raynor also praised the play of goalie Spencer Scott who “played an extremely good game for us. He made some big stops and kept his backline together as best he could. He played well enough to get a shutout. We left him out to dry on both goals. We have to regroup quicker on fouls and throw-ins deep in our defending third.”
“We watched too much,” continued Raynor. “Watched our players attack the goal and didn’t go with them and watched as Midway set up free kicks and throw-ins. We have to be more proactive and not reactive.“
“Outside of that I’m very proud of the guys,” said Raynor. “Midway is a tough team and playing there has been tough for us over the years. Last year we went in there and had a bad night. Our guys remembered that and made sure to leave it all on the field. Even going down early, tying it, and then going down again…. I never doubted them or panicked.”
Raynor noted that, “Everyone played solid games tonight. Pierce and Gabe did a tremendous job in the midfield. We were able to also give our front line a few different looks by running Garrett (Melvin), Brooks, Greyson, Irvin, and Milton up there giving us some different looks and different matchups against their backline. ”
“Dan (Tatum) and Ezequiel (Arteaga) did a great job in the back,” added Coach Raynor. “Dan suffered an injury to the mouth but got right back in there and played his butt off. Ezequiel was a man in the back and helped smother many of their attacks. Jacob Barber and Caleb Hatchell also had some solid playstonight, They worked hard and played a few different roles for us.”
East Bladen will travel to Scotland Thursday night.
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