SOUTHPORT – East Bladen’s Eagles fired in 7 first-half goals and rolled to their first win of the season 9-0 over South Brunswick Monday night in non-conference boys soccer action.
Senior Jake Evans recorded a ‘Hat Trick’ of 3 goals to lead the Eagle attack. Junior Jackson Bostic dished out 2 assists and scored a goal.
The Eagles struck quickly as junior Garrett Melvin opened the scoring with a goal in the second minute. Evans knocked in his first goal two minutes later.
Senior Gabe Barber banged in a goal in the 8th minute to pad the lead to 3-0. Four minutes later freshman Malcolm Bolden turned a feed from Bostic into a goal.
Another Bostic assist led to Evans’ second goal in the 18th minute as the lead grew to 5-0. Two minutes later Bostic drilled in a penalty kick. Evans completed his ‘Hat Trick” with a goal off of an assist from Bolden in the 27th minute.
“We played extremely well and opened up strong,” said Eagle Coach Jay Raynor. “I thought we knocked the ball around well and didn’t force things. We limited our turnovers and that limited our transitions which allowed us to be in the drivers seat.”
In the second half, junior Freddy Wooten blasted in a penalty kick in the 65th minute, and junior Drew Sholar closed out the East Bladen scoring with a goal 5 minutes later.
“It was good to see the guys play hard and play for each other,” continued Raynor. “A lot of the things we had talked about that had been absent from our play the last few games was present tonight. The boys seemed to have learned and looked very composed on the pitch.”
East Bladen outshot the Cougars 16-0 in the first half and 25-0 in the game. Seven different Eagles scored in the game.
“We were able to win a majority of the 50/50 balls which is something we haven’t been doing,” added Raynor. “Our midfield was strong and everything seemed to click tonight. Being able to get everyone quality minutes is also huge. We were finally able to use the bench and try some combinations. It’s still a work in progress but heading in the right direction.”
Junior Jacob Priest posted the shutout in goal for the Eagles. “He had no saves in net,” noted Raynor. “But he did play several balls back up field that got over our backline.”
Raynor credited Saturday’s practice with preparing the Eagles for Monday’s win. “We had a great session working on our defending and pressuring the ball. That’s an area Doc (Ray Cross) and Joe (Melvin) work on and their session Saturday carried over to the game. Our guys defended much better and made good decisions when having to press or defend.”
The Eagles, now 1-3-1, will open Three Rivers Conference play at home Wednesday night at 6 p.m. against St. Pauls.
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