BLADENBORO – Freshman Jackie Medina-Leal fired in a ‘Hat Trick’ of 3 goals and dished out 2 assists Friday night to lead East Bladen to an 8-0 Southeastern Athletic Conference girls’ soccer victory over West Bladen. Senior Maya McDonald assisted on 2 of Medina-Leal’s goals and racked up 2 goals of her own.
“Jackie had a breakout game tonight,” said East Bladen Coach Jay Raynor. “She did everything we asked her to do, kept things simple and didn’t over complicate the game. Jackie was dangerous and brought it tonight. It’s good to see her and Maya combining on our attack. Those two are lethal when you put them together.”
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Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
Raynor continued, “We gave up a lot of runs through midfield the other night (against West). We adjusted and changed our system to stop that in the 2nd half of that game. That was effective and we went back with it tonight. That allowed Maya to come out of midfield which made her hard to pick up. She was great tonight and was the facilitator we needed.”
Sophomore Heidi Rebollar opened up the scoring in the 8th minute. “She jumped an errant pass and took a shot from 30 yards out that beat the keeper,” noted Raynor.
McDonald turned a Medina-Leal assist into the 2nd Lady Eagle goal in the 13th minute. Ten minutes later junior Acee Campbell served a ball to freshman Iveonna “Nene” Ward who finished the pass into the goal.
“Heidi and Acee had incredible nights tonight in midfield,” stated Raynor. “Those two ladies made play after play. They know how to use their bodies to bump girls off the ball. They both also have a good understanding of their position as well as what we need from them. They dominated their areas and had a huge effect on the game.”
Medina-Leal beat her defender and “made a few moves before she put a nice shot away in the 28th minute” according to Raynor. McDonald would find Medina-Leal for her second goal of the game in the 30th minute.
Five minutes before halftime, freshman Anna Miranda “hit a shot from distance that beat the keeper. It was a nicely hit ball and was a nice finish,” said Raynor.
East Bladen outshot the Lady Knights 14-2 in the opening half and 22-4 for the game.
Medina-Leal’s 3rd goal came in the 43rd minute. “Jackie made a nice run to the post while Maya was driving to the goal, Maya found Jackie on the back post for her third goal of the game,” said Raynor.
Raynor shared, “Jackie would return the favor as she cut the ball back and laid a nice pass to Maya who finished with her left foot past the keeper from inside the 18 for the final East goal.
“Tonight we looked much different than we did against West (Tuesday) and we battled for the duration of the match,” said Raynor. “I felt like we gave them a lot of time to make decisions the other night. If you give a team space that allows them to make good decisions, make the right passes, and get off shots. We knew that was an area we had to do better in. Everyone pressed and pressured the ball better individually well as well as a team.”
Raynor continued, “Molly (Evans) had an unbelievable night tonight. She came up big several times and was a difference maker. Molly was in the zone and was focused and determined. West got behind us a few times and on one those instances, got a shot off that was past our keeper and Molly cleared it from going in. When Molly and our backs play like they did tonight, it will be tough to get good looks at our goal.
“Merritt (Martin), Zoe (Smith), and Reese (Hester) did great in the back. It’s good to walk away with a shutout. Those ladies came up big when it was time for them to make a play,” said Raynor.
Raynor concluded, “Proud of the girls and their performance tonight. We had 5 different scorers on the night and were able to play all 22 girls for significant minutes. We were much improved with our pressure and understanding of how we want to play.”
East Bladen, now 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the SAC-7, will travel to Durham School of the Arts Monday for a 4:30 match. West Bladen, now 1-2 overall and 0-2 in SAC-7 play, will host South Columbus Thursday at 6 p.m.
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