Golden Falcons blank South Central on senior night

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 17, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- Troubled by in-fighting among teammates most of the season and haunted by its inability to finish around the goal, Charles B. Aycock played its most complete soccer game of the season Thursday evening.

And on senior night, no less.

Bobby Hampton delivered two assists and Chris Grieve, who was benched the first half, provided two goals in a 4-0 conquest of Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference foe South Central on the Hardy Talton Stadium pitch. Hampton and fellow senior Collin Hinnant played the final home games of their careers.

"We got through some trouble, a little bit of drama on our team and we got everything settled out," Hampton said. "Our passes were connecting, we were making the runs, we were making the splits. It was really good to see the ball, when we kicked it, actually go to our teammate.

"It was pretty to watch."

Freshman midfielder Sean Doulin put the Golden Falcons on the board in the 19th minute on Hampton's first assist of the game. Doulin's goal was Aycock's first in 338-plus minutes of action and ended a string of four consecutive shutouts.

Hampton Tilghman boosted the advantage to 2-0 on a beautiful, one-touch pass from Zach Zacharzuk. Tilghman got a cleat on the ball which zipped past South Central keeper Andrew Shafer.

Aycock led 2-0 at halftime.

"After the North Lenoir game, I think it was, we didn't score much," Hampton said. "We were just struggling, we were trying to find our place. We couldn't get the ball out of the back, and every time we did, the other teams would get it and ram it down our throat again.

"It was good to actually have some breathing room."

The Golden Falcons (7-11-0 overall, 2-9 ECC) continued to build from the back, distribute the ball through the midfield and create opportunities on goal. While the finishing touches weren't polished, Aycock put 20 shots on frame and had one to bounce off the post.

Grieve, ranked among the area's top scorers, collected his 20th goal of the season on an assist from Dallen Edwards in the 53rd minute. Edwards played tremendous on the wing all evening and opened spaces for his teammates by switching fields, which also extended the South Central defense wide.

Hampton and Grieve completed the scoring in the 77th minute on a beautifully-played throw-in from the right side. Grieve got his noggin on it and tucked it away just inside the near post for the 4-0 finale.

"For some reason at Conley, the light came on and we starting passing the ball around for like 20 minutes or so," CBA head coach Byron Adkins said. "We looked really good and tonight, we did the same thing. I can't explain it ... we decided to play and here it is.

"I would have liked for us to be consistent throughout the year and not just the last two games."

Goalies Joey Hampton and Tilghman combined for six saves between the pipes, and preserved the Golden Falcons' third shutout win of the year.

Aycock concludes its season Tuesday at county archrival Eastern Wayne. The Warriors won the previous meeting, 2-1.

"We needed some momentum going to Eastern Wayne for their senior night," Hampton said. "It was epic here, so I know it's going to be epic over there."