C.B. Aycock-So. Wayne soccer

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 22, 2015 2:20 PM

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DUDLEY -- Sabrina Johnson will take a hat trick any day.

But what meant more to Johnson on Tuesday afternoon was an all-out 80-minute assault -- offensively and defensively -- that should finally push Charles B. Aycock in a positive direction on the soccer pitch.

Johnson's three-goal outing helped propel the Golden Falcons past in-county and Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference foe Southern Wayne, 4-1, at the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex.

"I think we played well, probably one of our best games we've ever played," said Johnson, who has two hat tricks this season. It doesn't matter who scores, it's the team who wins.

"Everybody is going to see 4-1 and that's what I want them to see. I don't care about the hat trick. I was just doing it for my team.

"We actually had passing, we dropped the ball, our defense played well (and) we stopped Dixie (Ramirez), who is one of the better players in the conference."

Ramirez put the Saints ahead 1-0 in the first two minutes of the game. The senior, who has scored six or more goals in four games this season, hardly got any touches on the ball the remainder of the game.

Aycock's defense double- and triple-teamed the talent scorer, who attempted three more shots from long distance once the outcome had been decided.

"She had a hard time with our defense," Johnson said. "We had to make sure we won the ball before she could take a step to it and win the ball, which was very important. We knew if she won the ball, she could do good things.

"When she did win it, we made sure we pressured her so she couldn't get by our defense."

Johnson notched the equalizer approximately 10 minutes after Ramirez's goal. Kennedy Sherman played a good ball over the top, Johnson out-ran the defense and connected on a shot to the low corner past a diving weeks.

Five minutes later, Aycock took the lead for good.

Southern Wayne (6-7-1 overall, 0-7-0 ECC) committed a hand-ball violation inside the box. Hannah Vernon easily converted the penalty kick and the Golden Falcons' sideline heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"I think it motivated us more. We knew we had to fight harder to come back and we were going to fight harder ... we kept going," Johnson said of Vernon's PK. "This was a must-win game and we did it."

Sherman assisted on Johnson's goal in the 48th minute and she polished off her hat trick in the 53rd. Johnson boosted her season total to 12 goals.

"Sabrina is the only goal scorer that we have right now," CBA coach Byron Adkins said. "If I put her in the midfield, then we struggle to score goals up top. When we put her up top, we're able to create and score goals.

"Today, I thought it was a good game ... we managed the midfield and got her some good looks on goal. It worked out for her."

The teams meet again Monday in Pikeville.