Spread the love

ELIZABETHTOWN – East Bladen senior midfielder Jamie Delgado has been named Boys Soccer Co-Player of the Year for the Waccamaw Conference. Pender star Aidan Murray shared the honor with Delgado.

“Jamie had a spectacular season,” said Eagle Coach Jay Raynor. “His performance was nothing short of what you want as well as need from a senior in the position we were in. We had lost a lot of players from last year and had a lot of new players in new positions. Once Jamie stopped forcing the game -he wanted to win and put the team on his shoulders -the game opened up for him.”

Raynor continued, “Jamie realized that winning meant making everyone around him better not just him putting the ball in the back of the net. Once he settled down and we figured out exactly what we needed from him, he changed who we were. That meant playing various positions and places on the field depending on how we wanted/needed him to play that day.”

Delgado dished out a team-high 31 assists and led the Eagles in shots on goal (70). He also scored 14 goals and racked up 321 steals as East Bladen posted a 14-7 record and hosted a 1st round playoff game before being eliminated in the 2nd round.

Raynor has been fortunate enough to coach several conference Players of the Year and pointed out that Delgado has turned in one of the top performances of any of them. “Along with his stats he also helped those around him improve skill wise.”

“I’m not sure anyone would’ve have believed those things would be possible coming into the season,” said Raynor. “That speaks volumes not only for Jamie but all our guys. We want to grow from day one and continue that ascension through the completion of the season. This group as well as Jamie did that.”

Delgado was also named Tuesday to the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association Class 1A All-State team.