'Flat' Cougars fall to Blue Devils on soccer pitch

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on April 24, 2015 1:48 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

Despite a season-long battle with streaky play, Goldsboro entered Thursday evening's game tied with South Lenoir and Kinston atop the Eastern Carolina 2-A Conference girls' soccer standings.

The roller-coaster season continues after a 3-0 loss to the Blue Devils.

"It was frustrating watching the girls watch the game as they should be playing it," Goldsboro head coach Leha Andres said. "They didn't have any urgency to get to the ball. Our cheer before the game was 'intensity,' and I didn't see that pretty much the whole game."

The Cougars were outmatched by the Blue Devils, who opened the game with a relentless attack and registered several shots on goal during the first 10 minutes. The scoresheet could have looked worse if not for the play of Goldsboro starting goalie Courtney Sutton, who made four saves in the first half.

South Lenoir broke the scoreless tie with under two minutes to go before halftime. Forward Kristin Wright, who had two goals on the day, got a pass in the box and put it past Sutton into the back of the net with ease.

"We played a lot more aggressive than we played last game," South Lenoir coach Gregory Lentine said. "Last game we let the other team basically run the show, and Kinston beat us.

"[Goldsboro] is a really good team, a team that's going to make the playoffs. So to do this, especially at their home place, is a big win."

Frequently a second-half team, Goldsboro's adjustments weren't enough to overcome the deficit. The frustration of the team's inconsistency boiled over in the 60th minute when Juanita Cortes-Torres -- a team captain -- received a yellow card for kicking the leg of an opponent long after the ball had been played.

Andres immediately benched her the remainder of the game.

It was the fitting end to a frustrating game for the Lady Cougars, who managed just six shots on goal and didn't have a corner kick until late in the second half.

"They just fell flat," Andres said. "There's no better term to describe it."

Andres feels that the team is still in a good position to make a postseason run, but must iron out the wrinkles of inconsistency in their play.

"I think it's really just developing on plays that we've found have worked for us," she said. "We were running just a two-man forward offense for a while, but we were finally able to dump the ball into space and use the open space... I think working on that will give us the potential to develop good scoring opportunities in the future."

Goldsboro travels to Kinston next Tuesday.