Hawks blank Golden Falcons
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 19, 2011 1:50 PM
PIKEVILLE -- A conference Charles B. Aycock has largely dominated for the better part of six years has become a growing source of frustration.
Filiberto Gonzalez scored the only two goals of the game in North Lenoir's 2-0 win Tuesday night at Hardy Talton Stadium. Aycock is 1-2 in its last three Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference games and has been outscored 15-4 during that stretch.
The Golden Falcons (10-6 overall, 5-6 ECC) need a win tonight at Southern Wayne to secure the fourth seed and a home game in the ECC tournament, which begins Saturday.
Aycock's Juan Pina's shot off Collin Zacharzuk's pass in the 19th minute missed wide. Hawks' keeper Caleb Baird saved Chase Thompson's free kick in the 21st minute.
Gonzalez won the ball inside the 18-yard box and slipped it past Golden Falcons' keeper Nick Hilker in the 36th minute to give North Lenoir a 1-0 lead.
"That goal was very big," said Hawks' head coach Donell Garris. "Aycock is a quality team and any time you can get up going into halftime and get a little bit of confidence, and regroup and get your adjustments right is a big help."
Aycock couldn't capitalize on a corner kick in the 42nd minute. Trey Millard's header off Thompson's free kick missed high. The Golden Falcons squandered corner kicks in the 47th and 49th minutes. Millard's shot inside the 18-yard box in the 72nd went high.
"We couldn't put the ball away," said Aycock head coach Kevin Adkins. "If we take the speed out of the back and put it in the front, we're going to suffer in the back. It's the lesser of two evils. We had our opportunities to put the ball in the net and we just couldn't do it.
"Their keeper just had an outstanding night."
Baird recorded his fifth shutout of the season.
Gonzalez scored on a header in the 74th minute to extend the lead to 2-0.
"At no point in time in that game did I think it was put away," said Garris. "They pushed us the entire time. They're a good team. Our defense and my keeper have played well year. He's been solid for us all year long."
North Lenoir (14-2-1, 9-1-1) visits Eastern Wayne today as it attempts secure the second seed in the conference tournament. The Hawks are 7-0-1 in their last eight conference games and haven't lost since a 3-1 setback on Sept. 14 at South Johnston.
"This is a big week to round out the regular season," said Garris. "We're trying to secure the number two seed for the conference tournament and for the state playoffs. This week is big."