BEULAVILLE – East Bladen and East Duplin battled to a 1-1 tie Wednesday night in non-conference girls’ soccer action. Junior Iveonna “NeNe” Ward turned an assist from junior Jackie Medina-Leal into an early goal for the Lady Eagles.
East Duplin tied the game on a goal with 9 minutes left to play.
The Lady Panthers, now 14-5-2, lead the East Central 2A with a 9-0 conference record. Coach Jay Raynor’s Lady Eagles, now 12-2-2, will travel to White Oak Monday for a non-conference match.
“Jackie served a cross behind their backline that NeNe buried past the keeper in the 28th minute,” shared Raynor. “NeNe put us up 2-0 late in the second half but was ruled to be offside. Gabby (Rebollar) played a ball towards their backline that their centerback mis-headed and it went towards their goal. NeNe ran onto the 50/50 ball and scored a gorgeous goal.”
Raynor continued, “NeNe was ahead of the play but in my opinion it should have counted. I spoke with the official and they held it as an offside. The argument is that the ED centerback deliberately played the ball and with that made an error. The rule says that the deliberate play negates offsides. She made a play on the ball. The goal should have counted and would have most definitely changed the remainder of the game.”
Raynor was pleased with East Bladen’s effort. “The last few times out we have had girls who I feel played their best soccer this season. Tonight was no different. All girls who touched the field played to the best of their abilities. Even with a few our girls not 100%, they gave it everything they had.”
“Reese (Hester) stood on her head tonight,” said Raynor about his goalie’s play. “She had 7 saves and several of those were diving saves. Her communication in the back and leadership is top notch. She doesn’t have to be involved like she was tonight – night in and night out. On nights like tonight though when playing against tough teams with multiple scoring threats, she shows exactly what she is made of.”
Raynor went on praise the defense. “You also have to give credit to her backline. Zoe (Smith), Marley (Potter), Molly (Evans), Leah (McGill), and Gabby did a phenomenal job in front of Reese. They cleared out dangerous balls, stopped dangerous runs, and were blocking point blank shots. Their toughness was impressive. They knew the task at hand and didn’t back down from the challenge.”
“NeNe is peaking at the right time,” noted Raynor. “Her runs and the way she is using her body to setup her runs and how she beats her defender is spot on. The timing on her run on the service from Jackie was perfect. Those two have a great understanding on each other’s game and you can see it clicking on the field. Her speed is tough to deal with. East Duplin was forced to make several adjustments because of her speed and the issues Jackie was causing their backline.”
Raynor added, “Jackie played another great game. She’s banged up but didn’t quit. It doesn’t take long for teams to know that they have to mark her. With all that she continues to create problems and generate chances.
“Molly was injured in the first half and that put more on NeNe and Jackie,” stated Raynor. “Both did well what was asked of them. We utilized Macey (Potter) to mark their centerback that was sweeping. Macey has never done that but did an excellent job. It helped create us chances and made things extremely more difficult for their centerback.”
Raynor praised the midfield play of Heidi Rebollar, Gabby Rebollar, Anna Miranda, and Eliana Padilla. “They played well, made good decisions and did exactly what was asked of them. They also are getting more comfortable with each other and know what each other are going to do on and off the ball. Our midfield play was spot on. We ask a lot of those girls and they continue to bring it.”
East Duplin is currently ranked No. 6 in Class 2A. “This was a tough match and we treated it like a playoff game. We experimented with some things that worked. Made adjustments to find what might work down the road. I feel good going into their place and getting a result. A win would’ve been amazing but we got a result and learned a lot. It showed a lot about our girls and our character.”
East Bladen has completed Waccamaw Conference play and will be the league’s top-seeded Class 1A team. “The last two weeks aren’t going to be easy. It was hard finding games this season. We picked these games up on the backend and they all are going to be tests. I know we will grow and be better prepared for the playoffs in the coming weeks.”
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