C.B. Aycock holds off Southern Wayne

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 6, 2009 1:46 PM

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DUDLEY -- A spirited county clash.

Southern Wayne erased an early two-goal deficit, but could not stop Charles B. Aycock's offense during a second-half rally. The Golden Falcons claimed a 3-2 victory and escaped with their perfect Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference record intact.

"That was another great game," said C.B. Aycock head coach Kevin Adkins. "We did not play our best and we almost let one get away. We have to be more focused going forward."

With the game tied and just four minutes left on the clock Juan Pina emerged from a scrum in the middle of the field. He fired a shot through the Saints' defense and into the net.

The final moments of the contest were highlighted by rough play and several stoppages to separate players.

"I think it got out of hand late in the game," said Saints head coach Mario Aguilar. "It seems like whenever there is a close game in the conference that it gets rough and the officials let it go too far."

The Golden Falcons (11-1-1 overall, 4-0-0 ECC) controlled the contest the first 20 minutes.

Pressure from Aycock's forwards led to a ball being deflected into the Southern Wayne net by a Saints' player in the ninth minute. Just 90 seconds later, Chase Thompson scored the Golden Falcons' second goal on a long run down the left hash mark.

Southern Wayne (5-8-0, 2-3-0) got on the board late in the first half when Benny Segura netted a goal off Jesus Rodriguez' assist. The Saints tied the game in the 46th minute when Rodriguez found the mark off Brayan Curtis' assist.

As if they had been knocked back into reality by the tie score, the Golden Falcons offense stepped up the intensity over the final 20 minutes. Saints' keeper Alan Nunez made five saves over that span including two amazing diving stops. However, he could not thwart the Golden Falcons' final chance which was converted by Pina.

Nunez finished with nine saves.

"It was almost like they looked up and realized 'We have to score'," said Adkins. "Southern Wayne played a good game and we wound up having the best opportunity in the second half."