Rosewood - NoJo soccer
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 8, 2011 1:49 PM
The scoreless streak is over.
Next step ... get a win.
Bret Robinson's penalty kick in the 70th minute ended a frustrating goal drought for Rosewood, which dropped a 2-1 decision to North Johnston at Branch Pope Field on Wednesday evening.
The Eagles (0-4-1 overall) snapped a string of four consecutive shutouts -- a stretch of 420-plus scoreless minutes -- to start the season.
"We looked better tonight than the last time against North Johnston," said Rosewood head coach Eddie Maldonado. "We keep telling them in practice, keep working hard and it's going to get better. Slowly, it's starting to get better.
"But it's tough when you can't win a game and the guys begin to get frustrated. It's harder to work hard when you're not winning."
Rosewood attempted five shots on goal, including two off three corner kicks. North Johnston keeper Sean Mangum (three saves) couldn't stop Robinson's PK after a foul inside the 18-yard box, but turned away a potential game-tying free kick about a minute later.
The Eagles misfired on a header around the 77th minute.
"Defensively, I think we're all right and in the midfield we're all right, but once we get up into the final third of the field, that's where the struggles are," said Maldonado. "We'll just keep working in practice and hopefully we'll get lucky sometime."
North Johnston's Tyler Williams broke the scoreless tie in the 20th minute with an unassisted goal. Danny Corral notched the game-winning score in the 60th minute on a shot that deflected off a teammate.
The Panthers attempted 22 shots on goal.
Eagles goalie Jyonte Raynor logged 11 saves between the pipes and stopped several point-blank range shots during the first 15 minutes of the second half.
"The first one we set them up for an easy shot and stuff like that hasn't feel for us this year," said Maldonado. "The second half, sometimes you hit a good shot and it goes in, there's nothing you can do about it. Eventually stuff like that will fall for us."