Aycock squanders early lead

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 9, 2012 1:48 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock just can't seem to bury those skeletons.

Those old bones rattled and haunted the Golden Falcons once again during their opening-round, N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A girls' soccer playoff game Tuesday evening.

Washington, the No. 5 seed from the Coastal Conference, scored six unanswered goals within a 52-minute span and rolled to a 7-3 victory on the Hardy Talton Stadium pitch. Emily Bohn and Christian Heggie punched in two goals apiece for the Pam Pack, who claimed just the second playoff win in their program's history.

Aycock, the Eastern Carolina champion, concluded its campaign 16-5-0 overall and remained winless in the postseason since 2004 -- a stretch of eight consecutive losses.

"We can't shake the playoff demon," CBA assistant coach Byron Adkins said.

The Golden Falcons eagerly worked to end their postseason drought early.

Cheyenne Warrick, the area's leading scorer, collected her 67th goal of the season off Emily Borel's assist in the 10th minute.

Bohn answered in the 16th minute with a curling shot that slipped between Aycock keeper Alex Van-Meir and the near post. Warrick and Borel hooked up again 44 seconds later to put the Golden Falcons back in front 2-1.

Aycock controlled the tempo, worked balls through the midfield and generated scoring opportunities for the next few minutes. Borel broke through the defense in the 20th minute and drilled home a goal off Warrick's assist.

The Golden Falcons' offensive attack went away then.

"It (the lead) evaporated real quick for us," Adkins said. "The same thing happened in the Cleveland game. We started off fast, dominated the first 25 or 30 minutes. I just can't explain it.

"You try to fix things. You figure 19 games into this (season) they would know what we're doing, but evidently not."

An own goal in the 29th minute off a defensive miscue in the penalty area started the Golden Falcons' downward spiral. Washington sophomore Alana Jefferson collected the equalizer seven minutes later to forge a 3-3 deadlock at halftime.

"I told the girls if we allow them to come out and score a goal, then it's going to be hard for us," Adkins said.

The defense continued to slumber.

Bohn scored two minutes into the second half and Aycock never recovered. The Golden Falcons' defensive presence was non-existent as the Pam Pack constantly found open spaces to create attacks on goal.

Washington extended its advantage to 5-3 in the 52nd minute. Heggie added two additional goals in the closing minutes. Each team had 14 shots and each keeper -- Van-Meir and Emily Alligood -- logged four saves between the pipes.

It was the final match for Aycock senior Samantha Parrish, who has signed a national letter-of-intent to play soccer next year at Louisburg College.