ELIZABETHTOWN – East Bladen’s Eagles won the Bladen Cup Soccer Scrimmage with a 2-0 victory over South Columbus in the final match Thursday night. The Eagles had defeated West Columbus 7-1 in an earlier match.
Sophomore Greyson Heustess, junior Brooks McGill and freshman Jake Evans fired in 2 goals each for the Eagles in the win over West Columbus. Senior Grey Caballero scored the other East Bladen goal.
“We started out very slow but we were able to capitalize on some mistakes as well as generate some nice attacks,” said Eagle Coach Jay Raynor.
Heustess also dished out 2 assists, and Evans was credited with one assist.
East Bladen led 4-0 before West Columbus converted a turnover in the Eagle defending one/third into their only goal.
“It looked like we just passed right to their forward who went 1-on-1 with (goalie) Spencer (Scott),” said Raynor. “Spencer did all he could to make the diving save but was unable to come up with it.”
South Columbus edged Harrells Christian Academy 1-0 to advance to the Cup Final. West Columbus and Harrells battled to a scoreless tie In the third-place match.
About the win over South Columbus Raynor said, ”It was a better played 40 minutes than our first (match). We moved the ball well, made a few position changes and were able to break through. The communication was much better in the second game which was the difference.”
Coach Raynor praised the backline play of sophomore Pierce Melvin and freshman Gabe Barber and the work in goal of Scott.
“We made some mistakes and let them get behind us a few times, but those 3 guys made big plays in some key moments to keep them out of the net,” said Raynor. “It was nice to see Spencer at his best. He is tough to beat when he plays like that. He had several diving saves and a heck of a smother on a low shot.”
“On the attacking end moving Brooks out wide helped generate some solid attacks,” continued Coach Raynor. “He finished one of those (for the first goal) and created several other looks as well.”
The second Eagle goal came from sophomore Dan Tatum. “Dan made an overlapping run down the right side,” said Raynor. “He received a ball from Greyson, got to the by-line and hit a hard shot into the six yard box that deflected into the net.”
Overall Raynor said, “We have a ton of potential and some solid leaders this year. Grey and Jacob Barber helped get this group organized, rallied the troops after the first match and got us back on track.”
“The scrimmages have shown us some areas we need to improve but also showed signs of what we are capable of,” concluded Coach Raynor. “At moments we look phenomenal and then in others we show our youth and make some silly mistakes. The boys have been disciplined and are playing the style of game that I want them too. We need to continue to improve our fitness and get a better understanding of our system and the roles of those positions.”
East Bladen opens the season Tuesday at home against East Columbus at 4:30 p.m.
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