Cleveland doubles up Southern Wayne

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 4, 2012 1:48 PM

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DUDLEY -- Cleveland never backed down.

Southern Wayne let an early lead get away and suffered a 2-1 loss on the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference soccer scene Wednesday night. The Rams remained unbeaten in league play.

"Cleveland is a good team and they played better than us tonight," Southern Wayne head coach Mario Aguilar said. "The first time we played, (Cleveland) really attacked and played forward, but tonight they played more defenders and played a more defensive game."

The Saints (7-5-1 overall, 4-3-0 ECC) opened the game on the offensive and got on the scoreboard first in the 14th minute. Cesar Benitez collected a rebound in front of the net and pushed a shot across the goal line.

Cleveland (12-3-0, 9-0-0) adjusted its defense and began to put more pressure on the midfield. The move immediately paid dividends when Markel Miles fired a crossing pass to Lawson Lamm, who booted a shot past the Saints' diving keeper and tied the game 1-1 in the 18th minute.

The teams battled for possession, but failed to mount any significant scoring opportunities before the intermission.

The second half opened much the same way with the ball bouncing in the midfield for first 20 minutes.

Cleveland grabbed the lead in the 66th minute when a defensive miscue by the Saints led to a point-blank shot for Miles. The quick-reacting forward turned toward the left post and slid a shot into the net.

Cleveland ran out the clock on defense without the Saints getting a shot over the final 14 minutes.

"I thought we played a pretty even game overall," Aguilar said. "It was kind of a bad bounce on that second goal and they made the second goal stand up."

Southern Wayne travels to Triton tonight.