EW-Fike
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on August 19, 2009 1:46 PM
The tension mounted as the seconds ticked away.
Eastern Wayne clung to a 1-0 lead as Wilson Fike intensified its offensive attack, but the Warriors stood tall for a 1-0 victory Tuesday evening in New Hope.
The thriller was the season opener for both teams.
The Demons' comeback attempt began in the 61st minute when Kyle Lewis' blast from 25 yards out hit the crossbar. John Michael Sykes' shot in the 72nd minute sailed just wide, and Collin Little missed high in the 75th minute.
Fike failed to convert on a pair of corner kicks in the 76th minute. The Demons finished 0-for-7 on corner kick opportunities and held a 14-7 advantage in shots on goal.
Despite being forced to defend for several minutes to close the match, Eastern Wayne head coach Jorg Wagner was pleased with the poise his team demonstrated.
"I thought the last 20 minutes didn't resemble organized that much on both sides really," he said. "It's a typical early-season game. I thought the boys sort of played through the pain a little bit. We were out of gas but so was Fike."
The Warriors had an opportunity to extend their 1-0 halftime lead, but couldn't capitalize on three corner kicks in less than two minutes. Eric Suncin's shot off a corner from inside the 18-yard box was punched away by Fike keeper Rob Brown in the 50th minute.
The Demons (0-1) applied the offensive pressure early in the first half as Carson Davis' shot in the 10th minute rolled just past the goal mouth. Corner kicks in the 14th and 18th minutes went by the wayside.
Eastern Wayne generated offense of its own when Sang Kim fed a centering pass through the 18-yard box to Carson Daly, who beat Brown in the top left corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute.
"We sprung Sang free on the wing and instead of taking the first touch he saw that the first guy was covered," said Wagner. "He cuts it back and lays it in. That's an extremely difficult ball to finish and Carson did very well placing it in the far corner. There was no chance for the keeper."
Warriors keeper Tyler Beachem recorded eight saves.
Eastern Wayne (1-0) travels to Wilson Hunt on Thursday. Game time is 7 p.m.