Golden Falcons boot Saints in latter stages of ECC 3A-4A match

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on March 18, 2016 1:48 PM

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jhayes@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- As a rule, good teams are a summary of their flaws. As an exception to that truism, prolific units work through them.

Enter the Charles B. Aycock varsity girls' soccer team.

The Golden Falcons (5-1-0 overall) proved both Thursday by first exhibiting, then promptly overcoming, a litany of miscues to dispatch Southern Wayne, 2-0, in vanishing daylight at the Doyle Whitfield Athletic Complex.

It was the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference opener for Aycock, which faces the Saints again on April 19.

Round one was anything but pedestrian.

Led in the opening half by Dmeka Artis, Southern Wayne used a deliberate, roaming shape to defend and frustrate a hyper-aggressive Aycock attack that netted nine goals against North Lenoir on Tuesday.

CBA running lanes were altered by solid position play. Routine balls at midfield were overrun and misplayed out of bounds. Southern throw-ins were calculated, if not to be confused with loitering.

And it worked.

Struggling to adjust and impose its identity, Aycock was twice called for offside in the opening minutes. The Golden Falcons -- used to running, gunning and attacking with getaway speed -- became bogged down in a physical, hit-or-be-hit contest on their half of the pitch.

A save of Michelle Zamora's rifled shot by Southern keeper Jacy Meeks in the 39th minute ensured a 0-0 score at half.

Aycock head coach Byron Adkins, vocal throughout the evening, was not impressed with his team's effort in the early going.

"We were very sluggish," he said, "(and) didn't come out with the intensity we should have... couldn't get the ball over the top to the forwards. (That) makes life easier for the other team."

That changed, however, in the second half.

Emily Seguin renewed the Golden Falcon attack with timely doses of energy, speed and toughness. Once properly reintroduced to the Southern Wayne half of midfield, CBA's usual suspects re-emerged.

In the 67th minute, forward Sabrina Johnson found freshman Hannah Spier for the match's opening goal. Five minutes later, she found Spier again, who promptly beat Meeks in corner net with a deft bit of footwork.

It was a critical, blink-and-miss-it exchange that restored order in the Aycock universe to its familiar powder blue.

"You just have to press them, and keep pressing," Adkins noted, "Southern plays that way. It's slow and drawn out. They try to steal a goal... (they) defend."

And for 65-plus minutes Thursday, they did.

Southern Wayne (1-6-0, 0-2-0 ECC) visits Rose next Tuesday, while Aycock will be the guest of D.H. Conley.