South Johnston hands C.B. Aycock first league loss
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 13, 2009 1:46 PM
PIKEVILLE -- Edgar Herrera single handedly propelled South Johnston into first place in the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference boys' soccer race on Monday evening.
Herrera scored all five of the Trojans' goals, including a pair in overtime, in a 5-3 decision over Charles B. Aycock at Hardy Talton Stadium. The teams entered the contest tied atop the ECC at 5-0.
Goals from Chase Thompson and Chama Rodriguez gave the Golden Falcons a 2-0 lead just nine minutes in.
Herrera cut the margin in half in the 15th minute when he scored on a rebound off Derek Brewington's shot.
Aycock nearly extended its lead in the 24th minute when Juan Pina's shot caromed off Trojans keeper Dolton Bledsoe and rolled past the goal mouth.
Herrera tied the game at 2-2 a minute into the second half when his header beat Golden Falcons keeper Charlie Powell.
"We played the first 10 or 15 minutes and then we went to sleep," said C.B. Aycock coach Kevin Adkins. "We just didn't play with the aggressiveness that we played with in the first 15 minutes."
The Golden Falcons (12-2-1 overall, 5-1 ECC) appeared to have seized control of the game when Rodriguez scored on Ryan Demartini's assist in the 76th minute.
A minute later, Herrera won the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and slipped it past Powell to even the score at 3-3.
"We've found very few people that can stop him," said Trojans head coach Jeremy Byrd. "You know he's the guy, but everybody playing defense is at a disadvantage because he's got the ball and you've got to stop what he's going to do."
Aycock's Brandon Davis had his shot clang off the post in the eighth minute of the first overtime period.
Herrera struck a minute later on an assist from Eduardo Vasquez giving South Johnston a 4-3 advantage. The speedy forward scored his 47th goal of the season seven minutes into the second overtime off Brean Laya's assist.
The Golden Falcons visit Eastern Wayne on Wednesday.
"If we want to have another crack at South Johnston it means we have to win out before we go to South Johnston next Thursday," said Adkins. "We just have to learn to play for 80 minutes, and not play for 20 minutes of one half and not just leave the game there."