CBA-WB soccer

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on October 5, 2006 2:29 PM

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WILSON -- Defending Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference men's soccer champion Charles B. Aycock isn't ready to relinquish its crown. But Wilson Beddingfield made a strong bid to dethrone the current title holder.

Freshman Omar Guerra tallied the game-winning goal in the 44th minute as the Bruins upended the Golden Falcons 2-1. Beddingfield's victory tightened the ECC standings and prevented Aycock from building a two-game advantage over its nearest competitor.

The Bruins (12-4-1) remained tied with county rival Wilson Hunt for second place at 4-2. The Golden Falcons (10-2-1) dipped to 5-1.

"I thought we were mentally ready to play, but I thought Beddingfield was the better team," said C.B. Aycock assistant coach Byron Adkins. "Beddingfield came out and realized what they had to do, and that was give us a loss. They came out and were fired up.

"(They had) a great win at Hunt followed by a great win here."

Adkins contended the Golden Falcons' sluggishness wasn't a result of Monday's grinding, overtime victory over county rival Southern Wayne. But Aycock never generated a consistent offensive attack and constantly surrendered possession when Bruin defenders intercepted passes in open spaces.

Beddingfield defenders Johnny Mariano and Israel Magana closely marked the Golden Falcons' scoring duo of Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Delgado all afternoon. Rodriguez converted one of five chances, while Delgado - who didn't attempt a shot in the second half -- misfired on all three of his opportunities.

The Golden Falcons owned a 14-7 edge in shots on goal. However, Adkins' club failed to challenge Bruin keeper Troy Cashion, who was constantly saved by teammates on free-kick situations. Cashion had three first-half saves -- all point-blank range shots -- in one-on-one confrontations with either Delgado or Rodriguez.

Aycock's most-agonizing miss occurred with about five minutes left in regulation. Rodriguez drew a hard foul inside the penalty box, but the linesman disagreed and told the middle referee that the infraction occurred outside the box.

Delgado tapped the ball and Alex Roosen blasted a shot over the crossbar. The two teamed up again for another free kick in the closing seconds, but didn't carry out Adkins' instructions and Beddingfield cleared the ball to preserve the win.

"We didn't capitalize on any of the free kicks we had today," said Adkins.

Beddingfield claimed its first-ever victory in five meetings against C.B. Aycock since joining the ECC in 2005. The Golden Falcons suffered just their second conference loss -- regular-season or tournament -- in their last 18 outings.

"The guys are compensating for losing their leading scorer (Osiel Guerra) and putting everything into it. That's what makes me proud of them because they never quit," said first-year Bruins coach Maitland Barnes.

Freshman Jaime Orellana erased the scoreless tie in the 16th minute. Magana avoided Rich Holder's slide tackle and dribbled the ball upfield. He centered a pass toward Orellana, who gained possession outside the 18-yard box and worked his way through the Golden Falcon defense.

Orellana squeezed an uncontested goal in between Aycock keeper Jared Kennedy and the left post for the 1-0 advantage.

Rodriguez countered with an unassisted goal in the 33rd minute to create a 1-1 deadlock at halftime.

"I thought Beddingfield was the better team in the first half and I thought Beddingfield was the better team in the second half," said Adkins. "They came out and pressed. I thought we had a lackadaisical effort. The kids had no heart, no desire."

"I'm very disappointed."

Omar Guerra's goal off Orellana's assist put the Bruins ahead to stay 2-1 in the 44th minute.

"We are playing terrible soccer right now," said Adkins, whose team went 25 minutes without a shot on goal in the second half. "We didn't mark in the back and didn't defend how we normally defend. We dove in, didn't stand anybody up.

"We played poor defense and poor offense, and Beddingfield deserved to win."