C.B. Aycock picks up key ECC win

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 25, 2007 2:51 PM

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WILSON -- Charles B. Aycock is back where it belongs -- in sole possession of the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference men's soccer lead.

The Golden Falcons assured themselves of that position with a 2-0 conquest of league rival Wilson Hunt on Monday evening. Aycock remained perfect in three ECC outings and improved to 8-2-1 overall.

The Warriors (6-6-1) endured their second consecutive shutout and fell to 1-1 in conference play.

"The light bulb came on tonight," said Aycock assistant coach Byron Adkins.

And it burned brightly throughout the 80-minute affair.

The Golden Falcons applied the pressure from the opening whistle and fired five shots on goal in the first 10 minutes. Gavin Forrest headed a ball off the post in the first minute, while the other shots either rolled wide or sailed over the goal.

"That set the tone for us and as a coach you want to see that," Adkins said of the early intensity. "I told the boys let's smack them in the mouth like people talk about in football. Punch them in the mouth and let's see what they've got."

Hunt never countered Aycock's jabs.

The Golden Falcons, winners of 21 ECC regular-season contests since 2005, notched the eventual game-winning goal in the 15th minute. Tucker Pearson took the ball away from a Warrior defender and pushed it down the line for David Burke.

Burke chased down the ball in the right corner and passed to Alex Rodriguez, who drew the attention of two defenders at the near post. Warrior goalie Jonas Dewald also camped out at the same spot and Rodriguez connected on a goal-scoring shot inside the left post.

The teams traded possession for the next 10 minutes until Aycock struck again. Hunt failed to clear the ball from the penalty area and an errant header deflected off the Golden Falcons' Patrick Shultze into the goal.

"They capitalized on our breakdowns," said Hunt coach Nick Drew. "Once we began to contain them a little better, it became more of an even game. But we just couldn't break the seal on the goal.

"It's just one of those things."

Aycock keeper Brandon Davis preserved his first-ever ECC shutout with six saves on 14 Warrior shots. The sophomore made two spectacular diving glove saves in the opening half, and tipped two more shots over the crossbar in the second half.

"Their keeper came up good once or twice," said Drew.

The Golden Falcons missed several scoring chances in the second half and nearly received a big offensive blow in the 64th minute. A Warrior defender took down Jorge Delgado on a through ball from Rodriguez.

Delgado needed assistance to leave the field, but he returned to play the final 10 minutes.

Adkins couldn't have been more pleased with his team's effort.

"A fantastic result," said Adkins. "The midfield played excellent, the defense played super and Alex and Jorge, they're going to carry the workload for us.

"It was a great performance all the way around."

Aycock returns to action at home Wednesday against county archrival Eastern Wayne. Game time is 7 p.m. at Hardy Talton Stadium.