LELAND – Seniors Diego Dominguez Castro and Vance Wheeler scored 2nd half goals that lifted North Brunswick to a 2-0 victory over East Bladen in the non-conference season-opener for both teams. Freshman Leyton Ohmer recorded the shutout in goal for the Scorpions.
The teams battled to a scoreless tie in the opening half. “We played well and showed growth in several areas,” said Eagle Coach Jay Raynor. “Our backline and keepers kept the game even through the first half.
North broke the scoreless tie midway the 2nd half. “Our guys were in good position and thought they had caught their forward in an offside position,” noted Raynor. “The linesman did not deem him to be offside and he was able to tuck it away past our keeper.”
The Scorpions tacked on another goal in the final 15 minutes. “We were caught out of position and trying to chase a goal to get back in the game,” stated Raynor.
Raynor continued, “I thought we played well enough to get out of that game with a tie. Was hoping for a goal and a 1-0 win. We are getting better each day. Our possession early on was solid and I thought we controlled the game.”
“As North got shots on goal and we didn’t… or went long times without them, I feel like we started to mentally change how we were playing,” said Raynor. “We started stepping a bit higher and trying to get closer to goal. That opened up some pockets of space that North took advantage of.”
Raynor added, “We went away from our system and weren’t disciplined enough to get a result tonight. Our body language was great throughout the first half. When North scored, we checked out. You could see us doubting what we were doing and doubting each other.”
Proud of the improvement,” concluded Raynor. “Hoping to continue to dial things in and get our system worked out. I scheduled a difficult summer schedule as well as a non-conference schedule. We need to experience adversity and play quality opponents so we can find out who we are.”
East Bladen will host South Brunswick Thursday at 6 p.m.
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