TABOR CITY – South Columbus scored on a penalty kick in the 75th minute to pull out a 1-1 tie with East Bladen Thursday night in non-conference men’s soccer action.
South had earned a corner kick and the Eagles appeared to have cleared the ball when a foul in the box was called.
“The boys battled hard and outplayed South for a majority of the night,” said Eagle Coach Jay Raynor. “For that decision to be made, is just unfortunate. On the PK (goalie) Spencer (Scott) guessed right and did all he could, but it was hit hard and tucked into the right corner.”
Minutes later East Bladen junior Brooks McGill was taken down in the box, but no penalty kick was awarded. The Eagles had several good looks at the end but couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Stallions controlled the first 10 minutes of the game. “They kept making runs at our backline and beating us,” said Coach Raynor. “If it wasn’t for some unbelievable saves by Spencer as well as Ezequiel (Arteaga) and Gabe (Barber), South could have been easily up 3 goals.”
East Bladen settled down and began to get freshman Jake Evans and McGill into the 18 yardline on the attacking end.
“I thought we did an excellent job getting behind their backs which was not an easy feat,” continued Raynor. “South played with 4 backs and a holding player right in front of them. I thought the midfield play of Greyson (Heustess), Pierce (Melvin), and Grey (Cabellero) did a good job of finding Brooks and Jake whether it be through (the defenders) or over the top.”
After a scoreless first half, the Eagles broke through when McGill beat the right back and sent a pass into Heustess in the 6-yard box. “Greyson finished the pass on his first touch,”noted Raynor. “It was a nice pass and quality finish.”
“All in all, I thought we played well,” added Coach Raynor. “We were much improved in the area of defending set pieces. Spencer dominated the box and kept his backline in check all game. He made numerous plays on the ball especially on corner kicks taking the ball out of the air and not allowing South to get to it.”
Raynor also praised the defensive play of Gabe Barber and Arteaga, “The entire backline played well but those two were making play after play to make sure South didn’t score. Both made several sliding saves blocking shots and runs towards the goal.”
“The boys played hard, but we shot ourselves in the foot at times,” continued Raynor. “We weren’t all on the same page which caused some subs away from our pattern and put players out of position. We lost our shape in the midfield which forced Pierce and Grey to cover a lot more area they should have and that led to fatigue and more subs.”
“I wish we could have held on to the ball longer and got our backs Into the attack,” said Raynor. “Dan (Tatum) and Gabe have been able to get forward lately and put themselves in scoring positions. Overall though, our attack was solid tonight and I liked what I saw.”
“We showed some toughness and didn’t quit after the PK,” concluded Coach Raynor. “The boys could’ve hung their head, but they didn’t. I’m sure this match will help us going into conference play.”
East Bladen is now 4-1-1 on the season and opens Four County Conference play Monday at home against Midway at 6 p.m.
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