New Bern knocks off Eastern Wayne in soccer

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on September 12, 2013 1:47 PM

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astevens@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne had an opportunity to measure itself against one of eastern North Carolina's better boys' soccer teams on Wednesday evening.

The Warriors learned that going toe-to-toe with Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference foe New Bern for 80 minutes is a difficult task. The Bears controlled the possession and pressured Eastern Wayne's defense throughout a 5-1 victory at Little Big Horn.

New Bern routinely fed passes into space, which allowed its forwards to attack and create scoring chances. Aaron Boardes' shot into an empty net was cleared away at the last moment by Warriors' defender Brandon Fossett.

The Bears' Clark McAden had his shot hit the cross bar in the 13th minute. New Bern's ninth shot of the first half found the back of the net off the foot of Reese Grifford in the 23rd minute.

The Bears (5-2-1, 2-0-0 ECC) continued their offensive assault as Neeko Helbich's shot in the 27th minute missed just wide. Htoo Soe's penalty kick in the 36th minute extended New Bern's lead to 2-0.

New Bern held a 13-1 edge in shots on goal in the opening 40 minutes.

"We played a full match last night and to come out here and play against one of the top teams in the east was very, very difficult," Warriors' head coach Jorg Wagner said. "The scheduling was absolutely horrendous for us. This does show you where you stand in terms of what is it you have to work on and it exposes your weaknesses."

Eastern Wayne keeper Alex Sandoval turned away Wyatt Howell's shot in the 42nd minute. Sandoval finished with 11 saves.

New Bern failed to convert on corner kicks in the 45th, 46th and 47th minutes. The Bears had back-to-back shots clang off the crossbar in the 57th minute.

Logan Henderson scored off Tanner Brown's assist in the 59th minute as New Bern's lead grew to 3-0.

"They are a very good team and they were able to put most of the pressure on us," Wagner said. "The only thing that let them down early was their forwards being too eager and going straight down the pitch. In the second half, they made some adjustments and played a little better."

Ethan Quinn tallied the Warriors' lone goal in the 63rd minute.

Antonio Babic and Harrison Futch capped the scoring for the Bears.

Eastern Wayne (4-2-0, 1-1-0) visits J.H. Rose on Sept. 19.