Rosewood hammers out 8-1 decision over Ayden-Grifton

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 23, 2012 1:48 PM

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Ayden-Grifton generated plenty of possession during the opening 20 minutes Monday evening at Branch Pope Field.

The Chargers appeared to have a solid game plan and a willingness to play a physical brand of soccer. One thing they did not have was an answer for Rosewood's abundance of speed.

The Eagles took advantage of their quickness and erupted for four goals in eight minutes early in the second half of an 8-1 victory in Carolina 1-A Conference play.

The Chargers dictated the tempo early and pressured the Rosewood defense in the opening stages of the first half. Ayden-Grifton earned a corner kick in the fourth minute and Junior Fede's shot in the seventh minute missed just wide.

The Eagles got on the scoreboard in the 21st minute when Dee Mabry scored on Thanh Truong's corner kick. Sy Truong won a loose ball outside the 18-yard box following a corner kick, fired a shot through traffic and into the back of the next to extend the lead to 2-0 in the 38th minute.

"Set pieces have kind of been our bread and butter," Rosewood head coach Eddie Maldonado said. "We've got boys that are going to go get the ball. Dee is one of those guys that goes and gets it."

The Eagles wasted little time breaking the game open in the second half.

Thanh Truong received a pass from Jyonte Raynor and used his speed to outrace the Chargers' defense and score in the 46th minute.

A minute later, Mabry gathered a loose ball inside the 18-yard box and found the back of the net to stretch the margin to 5-0. Mabry scored again in the 48th minute and Raynor used his speed to run through the Ayden-Grifton defense and score off Thanh Truong's assist.

"The Truong boys, they're not very big, but they're quick," Maldonado said. "It can be tough for people to deal with their quickness. Then we have Dee and Jyonte and they're athletes, they're fast. They can fly. When we put stuff like that together it works to our advantage."

Josh Drew scored on Corey Lynn's assist in the 65th minute as the lead grew to 7-0. Daniel Decresie scored the Chargers' lone goal in the 68th minute.

Lynn capped Rosewood's scoring in the 75th minute. Eagles' keeper Daniel Herring finished with seven saves.

The Eagles (12-6-0 overall, 5-2-0 CC) entertain regular-season champion Spring Creek on Wednesday. The Gators are 38-0-3 in Carolina 1-A Conference play since 2007.