Golden Falcons win pivotal ECC 3A/4A soccer game

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 9, 2013 1:49 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock refused to let Southern Wayne striker Desir Deufort create any heartache and discontent Tuesday evening.

Chris Grieve provided a gut-wrenching moment for the Saints instead.

The sophomore forward delivered the game-winning goal in the 55th minute and the Golden Falcons upended the Saints, 2-1, in a pivotal Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference boys' soccer game contested on a wet Hardy Talton Stadium pitch.

Aycock and Southern Wayne exited with identical 2-1-0 records in the 3-A portion of the conference. Each has a second meeting left with county foe Eastern Wayne, which is currently 0-2-0.

"It was a fabulous result for us tonight, a must-win game," CBA assistant coach Byron Adkins said. "We struggled in the first half and we struggled in the second half. Southern Wayne is a good team and we found a way to win tonight."

Defense and luck helped the Golden Falcons (6-6-1 overall, 3-4-1 ECC) throughout the night. Dominic Albano and Tim Naughton controlled the backline, clearing balls upfield which forced the Saints (6-4-1, 3-3-1) to rebuild their shape and attempt to create offense out of the midfield.

The team's second-leading scorer, Deufort faced double and triple teams all evening and constantly showed frustration when he lost possession of the ball. He got one good open look at the net during the first half and attempted just four shots -- all wide of the goal -- on the night.

"We tried to deny him the ball and it worked tonight," Adkins said. "When 5 (Deufort) doesn't get the ball, they pretty much don't go (offensively) after that."

Southern Wayne owned a 23-7 advantage in shots and led 7-1 in corner kicks. Aycock keeper Collin Grieve logged nine saves between the pipes.

The Saints took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute when Jose Rodriguez cleaned up a deflection inside the 6-yard box. He squeezed in a shot between Grieve and the near post.

The Golden Falcons notched the equalizer 12 minutes later. Bobby Hampton threw a ball toward Chris Grieve inside the 18 and Grieve played the ball off of his chest. He turned the wrong way and the ball sailed toward the back post to Broc Painter, who easily put away the header.

"Broc happened to be in the right place at the right time," Hampton said. "It was a perfect goal. It was awesome, a great header."

Southern Wayne controlled the tempo in the second half and constantly pressured the Aycock defense. The Golden Falcons lost possessions when the Saints stepped into passing lanes, and pushed the ball in the other direction.

But one push past midfield was all Aycock needed.

Working with the win, Hampton threw the ball into play to Grieve, who made a run toward the 18-yard box. Saints keeper Michel Peterson came off of his line and Grieve lofted a wind-aided shot that barely curled inside the back post for the 2-1 lead.

"I saw the keeper was pushing up the 18, I knew it was an open goal," Grieve said. "All I was thinking was put it on my right foot and hit. I tried not to look (at the ball) and I heard the stands go crazy, so I knew I had scored."

It was Grieve's third goal of the season and Hampton's fourth assist.

Aycock improved to 2-3-1 in games decided by one goal this season and rose to 42-7-4 against county opposition since 2006.