CBA snaps first-half deadlock

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on September 16, 2011 1:49 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock got an early look at Rosewood at Eastern Wayne's pre-season soccer jamboree in mid-August.

The Golden Falcons saw a much-improved Eagles' team on Thursday evening. Aycock needed two late goals to pull away for a 3-1 non-conference win at Hardy Talton Stadium.

Bryan Johnson collected Ronnie Person's free kick inside the 18-yard box and beat Rosewood keeper Daniel Herring to give the Golden Falcons 1-0 lead in the fourth minute.

A minute later, Herring turned away Chase Thompson's shot from point-blank range to keep Rosewood within striking distance.

Bret Robinson's shot from the top of the 18-yard box tucked into the top corner of the goal to tie the game at 1-1.

"That was huge," said Eagles' head coach Eddie Maldonado. "We've been struggling to score goals all season long. We've been working hard and once we scored that brought the whole team up. To come here and play Aycock, and the boys all know the guys on Aycock, and to tie it up 1-1, that was big for us."

Aycock squandered six corner kick opportunities in the first half, including five in a nine minute span.

"We were not making the passes we should be," said Golden Falcons' head coach Kevin Adkins. "We had to many people trying to score instead of playing soccer and passing the ball and moving the ball around."

Robinson was awarded a penalty kick in the 29th minute after being fouled inside the 18-yard box. His low, hard shot was saved by Aycock keeper Nick Hilker.

"That could have changed everything if we went up 2-1 going into halftime with the lead against Aycock," said Maldonado. "They're a good team and they're a talented team. We knew we had to play a real clean game to come out with a victory and we fell a little bit short."

The Golden Falcons pressured the Rosewood defense throughout the second half. Thompson's shot in the 42nd minute hit the crossbar. Aycock earned corner kick opportunities in the 45th and 49th minutes.

Herring made saves on Trey Millard's shot from just in front of the goal in the 51st minute and Millard's attempt on a rebound. Herring, a sophomore, finished with 12 saves.

"We couldn't ask Daniel to play any bigger than he did," said Maldonado. "He just got unlucky on a couple of them. This early part of the season has been tough for us and I keep telling the boys this is to get us ready for the conference. It's tough when you can't get a win."

Timothy Naughton scored on a header off Juan Pina's assist in the 64th minute to give the Golden Falcons the lead for good. Thompson put the game away two minutes later on a goal off Naughton's assist. Rosewood was held without a shot on goal in the second half.

"We talked about at halftime the objective was to push the ball forward," said Adkins. "I'll say this, their goalkeeper had one heck of a second half. Since the jamboree, Rosewood has a come a long way and they've got a club that wants to play together. I think sometimes that's what is wrong with us.

"We forget it is a team effort and we need to forget about 'I,' and focus on the team all the time. I think if we play together we could make life interesting for some of the other teams if we put ourselves together and we play together.

Aycock (4-2-0 overall) plays host to Eastern Wayne on Monday, while the Eagles (0-6-1) visit North Lenoir.