Saints, Bears play to 1-1 draw

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on September 25, 2013 1:47 PM

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DUDLEY -- Knocking off Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference co-leader New Bern normally takes a solid 80 minutes of soccer.

Southern Wayne turned in 100 strong minutes against the Bears Tuesday evening and still didn't come away with a win. Desir Deufort scored the Saints' lone goal in a 1-1 draw against the Bears.

"I'm proud of our team," Saints' head coach Mario Aguilar said. "We knew New Bern was one of the top teams in the conference. Our kids played really well and hopefully this will carry over to the next game."

Southern Wayne asserted itself in the midfield midway through the opening half. The Saints beat the Bears to loose balls and fed passes up the field to its forwards.

Deufort dribbled through four or five New Bern defenders and into the 18-yard box before firing a shot past Bears' keeper Xander Vizcarrondo in the 23rd minute.

Southern Wayne held a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal in the first half.

"Our midfield played well, especially in the first half," Aguilar said. "We were able to get the ball up to our forwards and put pressure on their defense."

Aaron Bordaes scored on a rebound off a shot by Reese Grifford in the 47th minute to tie the game at 1-1. The Bears failed to convert on a pair of corner kicks in the 48th minute.

New Bern had all three shots on goal in the two 10 minute overtime periods. The Bears also earned three corner kicks but couldn't cash in.

Saints' keeper Michel Peterson finished with 11 saves.

Southern Wayne (5-2-1 overall, 2-1-1 ECC) visits J.H. Rose on Thursday.