ELIZABETHTOWN – Senior Garrett Melvin fired in a ‘Hat Trick’ plus one of 4 goals and dished out 3 assists as East Bladen rolled to a season-opening 9-0 non-conference victory over East Columbus Monday.
Juniors Ishmael Arteaga and Joel Johnson knocked in 2 goals each for the winners, and Arteaga was also credited with 3 assists. Senior Will Hester banged in the other Eagle goal and also distributed 2 assists. Senior Drew Sholar and freshman Jamie Delgado recorded one assist each.
Arteaga opened the scoring with a goal off of an assist from Melvin in the 17th minute. Three minutes later Arteaga sent a pass to Johnson who found the net with the 2nd Eagle goal.
Two minutes later East Bladen erupted with a trio of goals to boost the lead to 5-0. Passes from Melvin and Arteaga set up Johnson for his 2nd goal. Melvin sent a feed to Arteaga for his 2nd goal then Arteaga returned the favor with a pass to Melvin who tallied his 1st goal of the night.
In the 29th minute, Melvin delivered another goal off of a pass from Delgado. Five minutes later Hester delivered the pass to Melvin who drilled in another goal for a 7-0 halftime lead.
The Hester to Melvin combination clicked again at the start of the 2nd half with Melvin scoring his 4th goal. Two minutes later Hester ended the game on the mercy rule with a goal off of a pass from Sholar.
The Eagles outshot the Gators 24-0 in the game, and Eagle senior Jacob Priest was credited with the shutout in goal although he didn’t have to record any saves.
East Bladen will host West Columbus Wednesday at 4:30 in a non-conference match.
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