ROSE HILL – East Bladen snapped a 1-1 tie with a trio of second half goals en route to a 4-1 Four County Conference men’s soccer victory over Union.
In the ninth minute of the game, Eagle senior Grey Cabellero sent a corner kick into the box that found sophmore Greyson Heustess. Heustess delivered a pass to junior Brooks McGill who put in the goal from 6 yards out for a 1-0 East lead.
“I thought we controlled the run of play and had some chances that barely missed,” said Eagle Coach Jay Raynor. “Union was able to get some looks here and there due to some miscommunication and miscues.”
Three key East Bladen starters received yellow cards in the first half that gave other players minutes in key roles. “Josh Pope and Robert Meggs both came into the game in tough situations and got the job done,” said Coach Raynor. “They worked hard and made some big plays.”
Union tied the game 1-1 in the 31st minute. “When they scored we seemed out of sync,” said Raynor.
“We were able to pick up the pressure before the half which swung the momentum back in our direction,” noted Coach Raynor. “Josh made some big plays and had a few shots that just barely missed or forced the back line to make a plan. Quality minutes from him tonight that we desperately needed.”
Nine minutes into the second half, McGill fired in his second goal of the game and put the Eagles ahead to stay. Four minutes later Cabellero turned a feed from Heustess into an Eagle goal and a 3-1 lead.
Two minutes later junior Caleb Hatchell dug out a 50/50 ball and booted a long pass ahead to Heustess. Heustess finished the shot from 9 yards out for a 4-1 lead with 25 minutes left to play.
“We had several more looks,” said Raynor. “We kept control of the game for the most part and were able to get a few players who usually don’t get time some minutes.”
“Spencer (goalie Scott) had an unbelievable game in the back again tonight,” continued Coach Raynor. “Dan (Tatum) and Keyshawn (Davis) are playing the best soccer I have seen them play. Spencer continues to blow my mind. He is fearless between the posts.”
Raynor stated that he was “proud of the boys for grinding it out and getting the win. With the injuries, players out of position or in new positions, yellow cards to key players, as well as coming off an outstanding performance on Saturday…I think we did very well.”
McGill finished with 2 goals, and Heustess totaled 2 assists and a goal to lead the Eagle attack.
“It was good to see Brooks and Greyson get back into the swing of things,” noted Raynor. “When those two click and play together good things happen. They are involved on almost 95% of our scoring chances so when they have the ball, good things tend to happen.”
The Eagles improve to 6-4 in league play and 10-5-1 overall. East Bladen will celebrate Cabellero and Meggs’ Senior Night Wednesday at 6 p.m. against rival West Bladen.
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