Quick-passing Rampants topple Warriors on soccer pitch

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 28, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne, in phases, applied some defensive pressure against quick-passing J.H. Rose on Thursday evening.

The Warriors could neither consistently match the Rampants' tenacious, aggressive style of play nor force many turnovers during a 5-1 loss on the Little Big Horn pitch.

Sophomore Mary Lisa Sypawski punched in two goals for Rose, which exited 5-3-1 overall and 2-1-0 against Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference opposition this season. Teammates Monica Crawford, Virginia Adams and Erin Naziri provided one goal apiece.

Morgan Cotton collected EW's lone goal.

"If you move a ball quickly like Rose is capable of doing, we need to do a better job of anticipating where the ball is going to go, already be on the move and see that we get the pressure there quicker," Warriors head coach Jorg Wagner said.

The Warriors (3-3-0, 0-3-0) seemed one step behind during the 80-minute affair. Their inability to disrupt the Rampants' passing led to several backside attacks on the goal.

Rose owned a 14-5 edge in shots.

"They and New Bern are very similar in the way they set up their plays," Wagner said. "Number 3 (Adams) in the midfield was fantastic, she got to every ball. Number 8 (Hayley Goldman) on the outside was fabulous at running through.

"We made a switch, but there were only so many switches we could make before they found a matchup that would definitely go in their favor. They exploited it well."

A defensive misclear led to a takeaway and the Rampants' first goal -- a right-footed strike by junior Monica Crawford in the 28th minute. Another defensive snafu, despite a remarkable diving glove save by EW keeper Erica Duke, led to the Rampants' second goal -- this one by Adams, who cleaned up the deflected shot taken by Sypawski.

The Warriors answered a minute later.

Cheyenne Craft threw the ball in to teammate Megan Mozingo, who stood just outside the 18-yard box. A Rampant defender stepped in front to clear the ball, but the Warriors' Morgan Cotton intercepted and lifted a shot toward the net.

The floater slipped between the keeper's gloves and crossbar, and settled into the back of the net. Eastern Wayne trailed 2-1.

Wagner felt confident about his team's chances, but the absence of three key players and unproven depth factored into the second half. The Rampants continued to knock the ball around and controlled possession at nearly a 75-percent rate.

Naziri gave Rose a two-goal advantage in the 55th minute when she out-raced three defenders, and converted a low, one-foot strike toward the back post. Sypawski capped the second-half outburst with goals in the 71st and 79th minutes.

"They play the ball so quickly, never went one-on-one with us which is where we have some strength," Wagner said. "We're going to have to continue working on applying defensive pressure and forcing more turnovers before the opponents can get into any possession-style play.

"Teams good at doing that are going to beat us."