State-ranked Vikes top EW

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 14, 2006 2:25 PM

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State-ranked Jacksonville White Oak collected two goals in each half and upended Eastern Wayne 4-1 on a rainy Wednesday evening at Little Big Horn.

Sophomore midfielder Mac Cargile scored twice for the Vikings, ranked No. 15 in the latest N.C. Soccer Coaches Association Class 3-A poll. White Oak (3-4-1) also profited from two own goals and handed the Warriors their third loss of the season.

Eastern Wayne dipped to 3-3-1 overall.

"(The result) is a testament to them because I don't think we played poorly," said Eastern Wayne coach Jörg Wagner. "Defensively we were under pressure, the first 10 minutes especially, and then we settled down a bit."

White Oak kept Warrior keeper Vincent Hagedorn busy the first 10 minutes. Cargile and junior forward Marcus Krueger combined for seven of the Vikings' eight shots on goal during that stretch. Hagedorn stopped six, while one shot hit the crossbar and another easily sailed through the football goalposts.

The Vikings broke the scoreless tie in the 22nd minute. Josh Walter and a Warrior defender battled for control near the right-corner flag on White Oak's side of the field. Walter took the ball away, pushed it down the line into the box and passed toward Cargile.

Cargile connected on a shot toward the near post for the 1-0 advantage.

Four minutes later, the Vikings collected the first of two own goals when a shot from inside the penalty area deflected off a Warrior defender and caught Hagedorn flat-footed. White Oak led 2-0.

Eastern Wayne, which fell to 1-2-1 at home, answered in the 37th minute. Junior Will Hughes received a corner kick from Bryan Coltrane and fired a right-footed shot toward the far post. It was Hughes' second goal of the season.

"(Trailing) 2-1 was acceptable at the half," said Wagner.

The Warriors doubled up on Krueger in the second half to prevent him from getting open looks at the goal. Cargile continued firing shots along with Walter, midfielder Brandon Santiago, Thomas Mazzawi and sweeper Kyle Caston. Caston uncorked a free kick that split the uprights.

"Slowing (Krueger) down worked for the most part," said Wagner. "I thought from the Jacksonville game we certainly made some good strides attitude-wise and as far as organized, we were relatively better organized. In the second half, the first 25 minutes, I thought was an even game.

"Then we made one mistake defensively following up."

Cargile tallied his second goal in the 66th minute. Four minutes later, the defensive error Wagner eluded to led to an own goal and produced an insurmountable three-goal deficit.

"You try to block a shot and it deflects in twice. That's unlucky," said Wagner.

White Oak outshot Eastern Wayne 26-5 and owned a 9-3 edge in corner kicks. Hagedorn notched 12 saves, while Viking keeper Jared Smith recorded three stops.

The back-to-back losses with a six-goal differential against state-ranked opponents can be frustrating for any team seeking respect among eastern North Carolina's elite soccer programs. But not for Wagner. He puts together the challenging non-conference schedule to see where his team stacks up against quality opponents.

The Warriors have beaten North Lenoir twice and South Central once. They've tied with Fike and dropped a combined three defeats to Jacksonville and White Oak. Jacksonville is the reigning N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A champion.

"I'd like to think we can get closer than 4-1 (vs. White Oak)," said Wagner. "With a little bit of focus in practice and a little bit more luck, we should be okay. You play teams like that so you can see what's going on.

"You play teams like that so you can see what's going on. Our weaknesses need to be exposed and then we need to fix them," said Wagner. "I'd like to think we can get closer than 4-1 (vs. White Oak)," said Wagner. "With a little bit of focus in practice and a little bit more luck, we should be okay. We don't get this type of competition for three weeks in a row in the conference.

"We have to be ready to play at a more-consistent level a couple of weeks in a row if want to win the conference, which is our goal every year. The only way to do that is to play the top teams."

Eastern Wayne opens its Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference schedule at home Monday against Southern Wayne. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.