BOYS' SOCCER: WCDS runs over Oakwood

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on September 28, 2016 9:59 AM

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bcoley@newsargus.com

At halftime of Tuesday's match against The Oakwood School, Wayne Country Day head coach Steve Ellis gathered his team closely, and told them to stay awake.

No more words were needed.

The players nodded their heads and jogged back onto the field.

In the second half, WCDS indeed woke up. And in turn, it quickly put Oakwood to bed. The Chargers blitzed the Eagles with three goals in nine minutes en route to a dominant 8-1 victory.

Tuesday's game was a rematch of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A state title game a year ago, which WCDS won 4-0. The Chargers quickly proved that not much had changed from that championship bout.

Ellis, who exudes a calm, easy-going demeanor from the bench, said the laidback attitude provides a positive environment for the team.

And when a message needs to be heard -- like the one during halftime -- the players know how respond.

"There's only little tweaks that we can do as a coaches to fix something or alter something," Ellis said. "The players have got to take responsibility for what they're doing. Everyone gets along and can joke, but they know when it's game time, it's game time."

The Chargers held a 2-0 lead when the three-goal barrage began.

The first one came in the 47th minute. Ben Cohen pushed the ball in front of Nehemiya Shaw, who then sprinted to the box and scored after beating the goalkeeper to the ball.

Cohen received his turn just two minutes later. Noah Adkins touched a pass to Cohen, and the junior finished the play by kicking the ball into the net while sliding along the wet grass.

Hunter Bryson concluded the offensive onslaught with a goal in the 56th minute.

"We wanted the ball to be moved a little bit quicker," Ellis said. "We were a little bit slow in the first half trying to do too much individually. As we started moving the ball, the Oakwood boys were tired of chasing the ball the whole time, and the goals kept coming."

Six different Chargers scored. Adkins and Shaw led the way with two goals each. Luis Lopez and Bash Attiah each tallied one goal. John Thompson registered two assists while Marquise Newell and Lopez added one.

The Chargers are currently riding a seven-game winning streak. Since its loss to Greenfield in a penalty-kick shootout, WCDS has outscored its opponents 51-1. The only goal allowed was a score by Oakwood in the 71st minute of Tuesday's match.

Although the season has been full of blowout victories, the Chargers' coach isn't worried about his players becoming complacent. WCDS already has a championship pedigree, and Ellis said the players are hungry to reach that same level in 2016.

"To be honest, the attacking end of the boys -- they set themselves goals that they want to achieve," Ellis said. "There is these little markers that each of them have individually. It's the end goal that everybody's trying to get to, which is the state final."