ELIZABETHTOWN – Junior Chace Butler fired in a ‘Hat Trick’ of 3 goals Wednesday night to lead East Bladen to a 9-0 Waccamaw Conference boys’ soccer victory over West Columbus.
Butler also dished out 2 assists. Six different players scored for the Eagles, and junior Gabril Algozy was credited with 3 assists. Senior Jamie Delgado scored 2 goals, and senior Zac Metz distributed 2 assists.
‘The guys came out focused tonight and had great energy from the start,” said Eagle Coach Jay Raynor. “Chace and Tevin (McClean) got us going early. When those two guys fly around and make plays like they did tonight, they make it difficult for back lines. Tevin missed a few chances that I know he wishes he would’ve converted but he also created a lot of chances for his teammates.”
Butler cracked the scoring column in the 3rd minute converting a feed from Delgado into an Eagle goal. Three minutes later Butler sent a pass to sophomore McClean who knocked in a goal to stretch the East lead to 2-0.
Two minutes later Delgado turned a pass from Metz into a goal that boosted the score to 3-0. “Jamie did an outstanding job for us in midfield,” stated Raynor. “Jamie coming out of midfield make us dangerous. He sees the game well and he is growing into his senior season. Jamie attracts a lot of attention, but he has found ways to get his teammates involved and is making them better.”
Raynor continued, “We used Zac in several positions tonight. Zac created some great attacks for us when he was up top and did the same when he was in the back for us. Zac is also growing into the season and his role. Being able to play Zac just about anywhere on the field allows us to make adjustments and get more players and different looks in our attack.”
Senior Lee Barnes nailed a penalty kick in the 9th minute for a 4-0 East lead. “About a month ago I made a decision to let our keepers take our PKs,” noted Raynor. “We had missed too many and I figured nerves played into that. Our keepers are anything but nervous and have done a great job converting our PKs for us. Lee tucked it home low and to the keepers right. Well-placed kick.”
Five minutes later freshman Damian Alonzo-Sanchez took a feed from Butler and tallied the 5th Eagle goal. “Damian is playing some of his best soccer and is a great compliment to Jamie in midfield,” stated Raynor. “Damian has grown up tremendously over the last few weeks. The game seems to have slowed down for him and he looks comfortable on and off the ball.”
In the 21st minute, Butler rang up his 2nd goal of the game, and 3 minutes later Delgado knocked in a goal. Both of those goals came off assists from Algozy.
Sophomore Kyren McKoy tacked on another Eagle goal 4 minutes before halftime off an assist from freshman Tyler Eason that pushed the lead to 8-0.
“West didn’t have a JV so we used it as a chance to play some of our younger guys up,” said Raynor. “They all played a good amount of minutes and played well for us tonight. I didn’t think the game fell off much at all when we put them in. Easton Bostic, Tyler Eason, Cade Rogers, Ethan Metz, and Kyren McKoy contributed to the win tonight.”
The Eagles outshot West Columbus 20-0 in the 1st half and 23-1 for the game. Butler completed his ‘Hat Trick’ with a goal off passes from Zac Metz and Algozy.
“JD (McArthur) and Ronnie (Covington) are a great duo in midfield for us as well,” added Raynor. “Those guys bring not only size but a physical presence to the game. Great execution from those guys tonight. Our backs didn’t have to do much but when they did, they were solid. Debo (Lewis) and Jayce (Hatcher) looked great in possession and their decision making.”
Raynor continued, “Colin (King) didn’t have to defend much for us tonight, but he provided us another player in our attack. He made some great runs tonight and was so close to scoring several chances. Connor Paddrick came in and had a solid performance. Connor did what was asked of him and tried his hardest to get others involved.”
The Eagles improved to 3-1 in conference play and 5-4 overall and will travel to rival West Bladen Thursday night.
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