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ELIZABETHTOWN – East Bladen concluded an undefeated regular season Friday night with an 11-0 Three Rivers Conference girls soccer victory over West Bladen.
Coach Jay Raynor’s Lady Eagles are now 14-0 in league play and 17-0 overall and should be a very high seed when the NCHSAA Class 2A play-off pairings are released Monday.
East Bladen outshot West Bladen 24-1 for the game, and Lady Eagle goalie Ting Lin had to make no saves in the game. All of the goals were scored in the first half.
Freshman Kenia Medina took a pass from senior Hannah Devane and scored in the second minute of the game. Twenty–two seconds later sophmore Patience Ward beat the defender and converted a one-on-one with the keeper to make it 2-0.
Nine seconds after that freshman Katie Evans turned a pass from Devane into the Lady Eagles third goal in a span of just 40 seconds.
In the fourth minute of play Ward knocked in her second goal of the game off of a pass from freshman Lily Lin to boost the East lead to 4-0.
Devane turned a feed from Evans into a goal in the 9th minute of play. Thirty seconds later Devane returned the favor setting up a goal by Evans in the 10th minute to make it 6-0.
Ward picked up a loose ball and raced to the goal to score her third goal of the game in the 24th minute.
Medina received a pass from Devane and buried it into the net for her second goal in the 27th minute. Less than a minute later, Evans finished a shot from just inside the box for an unassisted goal.
Sophmore Izzy Smith scored what Coach Raynor called ‘a beautiful goal’ on a ball from Evans in the 31st minute, and Medina earned her “Hat Trick’ in the 33rd minute when she converted a pass from Devane.
“It was one heck of night,” said Raynor. “The girls were flying around and making plays. They played extremely hard for each other. We haven’t been this dynamic in weeks. It looked like the game slowed down for them and they just made play after play after play.“
“We were just clicking and in sync, and it was unbelievable,” continued Raynor. “It was just our night where it all worked. The passing, the moving off the ball, and even our corner kicks were spot on.”
Raynor noted that West Bladen played hard. “Their keeper made some pretty spectacular saves, and they had some dangerous looks on goal that forced us to make some plays deep in front of our goal.
“They are a class group and they as well as their coach should be commended for that,” said Raynor. “It’s a rivalry game and both schools want to win…. but the respect and class between the two teams was amazing.”
Devane, the lone East Bladen senior, celebrated her Senior Night with a goal and a whopping 5 assists. “We will miss her leadership next year,” noted Raynor. “She was a 4-year starter and one of the top players to come through our program. She is special and has inspired this team.”
Three different Lady Eagles recorded ‘Hat Tricks’ of three goals scored in the game. Ward and Medina scored 3 goals each. Evans scored 3 goals and dished out 2 assists. Smith added a goal.
“Sarah Johnson and Cybil Campbell had outstanding games,” said Raynor. “Both had their heads up and made some amazing passes. Both of them go overlooked sometimes but they are huge for our system and our team. Gracyn (Martin) and Lily (Lin) contributed a ton midfield.”
About the history-making 17-0 season and Three Rivers Conference championship Raynor said, “This has been a very special year and is a very special group. Looking forward to rolling this momentum into the playoffs. Don’t have much of an idea who we will play yet but these girls will give it everything they have!”
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