Saints emerge victorious
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 28, 2011 1:48 PM
DUDLEY -- Southern Wayne had to wait a while to get a win on the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference boys' soccer scene, but on Tuesday night the Saints realized it was well worth it.
Southern Wayne dumped Cleveland 3-1 in the completion of a suspended game from two weeks ago.
"I am really happy for this group of guys because they have been waiting for a win like this," Southern Wayne head coach Mario Aguilar said. "We needed to win one and tonight we beat a pretty good team."
The game restarted in the 12th minute with the Saints ahead 1-0. Cleveland gave Southern Wayne the lead two weeks ago when an "own goal" bounced into the net off a Rams defender.
On Tuesday night, the Rams showed desperation on offense and evened the score in the 38th minute when Jacob Burton fired a shot, chased down his own rebound and scored past the Saints' keeper.
After a halftime instructional session with Aguilar, the Saints refound their confidence in the second half. In the 49th minute, Nathan Viehwegger collected a loose ball and hit the back of the net with an open shot that gave the Saints a 2-1 lead.
"The way Cleveland was playing, they were heavy in the midfield," Aguilar said. "I told the guys to collect the ball, make one move and try to get into open space. We did that in the second half and it set up some chances to score."
Chama Rodriguez put the game away in the 76th minute when he ran on to a long ball from Nelson Velazquez and fired a shot into the net.
Southern Wayne out-shot Cleveland 14-9 for the game. Saints keeper Luis Castaneda finished with five saves in the win.
Southern Wayne (1-8-1 overall, 1-4-0 ECC) plays host to North Lenoir on Thursday.