A 1-minute explosion

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on September 28, 2006 2:18 PM

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In an 80-minute soccer match, one single minute usually doesn't effect the result of a contest.

But the 33nd minute of the first half proved huge for Charles B. Aycock on Wednesday at Eastern Wayne.

The Golden Falcons' Alex Roosen and Alex Rodriguez scored the only two goals of the first half within that one-minute stretch as the visitors remained unbeaten in Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference action with a 3-1 win at Little Big Horn. The win was Aycock's third straight in the series against its archrival.

Roosen got Aycock (9-1-1, 4-0) on the board with a goal on a direct kick from just outside of the box to make it 1-0.

Just after the ensuing kickoff by the Warriors (4-6-1, 1-3) was stolen, Rodriguez dribbled through the heart of the EW defense and tucked a left-footed shot inside the right post to give his team a 2-goal advantage at intermission.

"I thought Eastern Wayne played better than us in the first half, but we had two good chances and took advantage of them," Aycock coach Byron Adkins said. "Those were two great goals."

Most of the first half was played in the middle portion of the field as neither team developed much of a consistent offensive attack. Only one of the Warriors' shot attempts was on frame, while Aycock managed just three shots on goal, two of which were goals.

"I thought our ideas were there, but the touch on our passes and shots were a little off," Eastern Wayne coach Jörg Wagner said.

It didn't take the Falcons near as long in the second half to get their third goal as Rodriguez headed in a missed shot off the post by Andrew Musselman to make it 3-0 in the 10th minute.

Six minutes later, the Warriors got on the board when Oscar Suncin booted a long kick from near midfield toward the Aycock goal. The attempt sailed over Falcons goalie Jared Kennedy and took a big bounce -- barely crossing the line before Kennedy knocked it out of the goal.

The Warriors and Falcons finished with four shots each in the second half but Kennedy and Eastern Wayne goalie Vincent Hagedorn were scarcely challenged as most of the shots sailed high or wide of the goal. Both keepers finished with three saves on the game.

On top of the quick-strike ability of the offense, Adkins was pleased with his defense and midfield's effort.

"Marcos Contreras (sweeper) is a rock back there and with Brandon (Nelson), Alex (Toler) and C.P. (Cranford) we've got a great back four," he said. "You've also got to give credit to our midfield tonight. Eastern Wayne passes the ball well, but they didn't have too many dangerous chances."

Now with three conference losses, Wagner hopes the team can bounce back and learn from Wednesday's defeat heading into Monday's contest at Kinston.

"You shift your goals a little now at this point because it will be tough to win a league title with three losses," he said. "But we still want to get into the playoffs and keep our streak alive ... this would be our 10th straight year in the playoffs if we make it. We've learned in the past that you don't have to win a conference title to go far in the playoffs."

The Falcons look to continue their best start in school history as they travel to Southern Wayne on Monday.