Mozingo leads young group of Warriors to second win

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on March 15, 2015 1:52 AM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

As she dribbled around two and then a third defender, Megan Mozingo found herself 18 yards away -- and one-on-one -- against the goalie with an almost wide-open net.

Mozingo could have easily scored.

Instead, she dropped a pass off to freshman Madison Tallarida, who cut to the right side of the net and finished off the goal.

It was the second of Mozingo's four assists as Eastern Wayne defeated South Lenoir, 9-0, in a 61-minute mercy-rule game at Little Big Horn on Friday evening.

Dishing rather than finishing has become a role Mozingo has accepted early in the season which should help the youth-ladened Warriors learn the pace of the game quickly.

"I like setting up other people more than scoring for myself," said Mozingo, who also had a goal. "Yeah I had a good shot, but she had a better one. We are going to need to make those plays when we get into conference play."

Two games and 18 goals later, the Warriors' confidence is starting to grow and the freshmen and sophomores look like they belong -- so far.

"That's kind of why we scheduled these games," Eastern Wayne head coach Jorg Wagner said. "One of the biggest things you worry about when you have girls come up from middle school is if they can adjust to the pace of the game. They are starting to be able to do that."

Brennan Dove scored the first of her three goals in the second minute, and the Warriors never slowed down until the final whistle blew after Kira Royal's goal induced the mercy rule.

Dove, a sophomore attacking midfielder has nine goals through two games. Meanwhile, freshman left striker Claire Molloy scored two goals and had an assist.

Tallarida added an assist to go along with her goal. Yessenia Gutierrez also had a goal and an assist.

The attackers and midfielders have been clicking on all cylinders, but the one thing Wagner hopes will improve is the back line. Playing in a 3-5-2 formation with a first-year goalie, the Warriors' back three will have to keep the opposition from getting behind them and cover a lot of ground.

"They haven't had much work, but they are going to have to learn to move as a unit as we go," Wagner said. "A lot of the little things because there is going to be a lot of pressure on our back line. But when you score 18 goals in two games, it's hard to nitpick at things."

Cameron Dove anchored the back line and shined as the center back against the Blue Devils. She thwarted all of South Lenoir's chances and showed some fancy dribbling to get the ball forward and to the feet of midfielders.

"They were jumping at the ball all night," said Mozingo, who showed off some crafty moves to get around defenders as well. "When they do that, it's easy just to fake one way and go another, or spin. It's easy to beat them like that."

Eastern Wayne's Kierra Christie made four saves in goal, but none of the chances really ever created much danger.