Eastern Wayne seizes ECC 3-A women's soccer tournament crown

Published in Sports on May 6, 2007 2:01 AM

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The Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference women's soccer tournament title is staying put in Wayne County.

Eastern Wayne made sure of it Friday evening.

Seniors Sam Frazer and Natalie Taylor combined for three goals as the homestanding Warriors turned back ECC regular-season champion Wilson Hunt 3-1 on a soggy Little Big Horn pitch.

Hunt (16-5-1) lost for the first time in 12 conference outings and saw its nine-game unbeaten streak come to an end. Eastern Wayne gained some measure of revenge for two regular-season defeats and improved to 12-7 overall.

Both teams will learn their postseason fates today when the N.C. High School Athletic Association releases the playoff pairings. Hunt will play host to a wild-card entry on Wednesday, while Eastern Wayne (12-7) will entertain the No. 4 representative from the Coastal 8 Conference.

Each game kicks off at 7 p.m.

Superb defense and efficient shooting led to Eastern Wayne's title march. Coach Jorg Wagner's team fired just four shots on goal, and freshman keeper Danielle Daniel notched several quality saves. Daniel replaced an injured Brittany Spence and denied Hunt striker Alex Calvert of two second-half goals to help preserve the homestanding Warriors' victory.

Taylor opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Frazer directed a free kick through several Hunt defenders and Taylor booted it past goalie Monica Campbell for the 1-0 advantage.

Frazer added a rocket outside the 18 box to put Eastern Wayne up 2-0.

Hunt pulled within 2-1, but Daniels and her teammates weren't to be denied. Daniel scooped up a Calvert corner kick and smothered another Calvert shot -- this time a one-on-one breakaway -- to keep the visitors from tallying the equalizer.

Frazer concluded the scoring with a 35-yard shot that looped over Campbell and into goal. Hunt increased the tempo during the final 10 minutes, but couldn't add a tournament title to its regular-season championship.