Technical-savvy Vikings shut out Warriors

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on May 2, 2014 1:52 PM

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After having just one practice in the last two weeks, the Eastern Wayne girls' soccer team couldn't find a groove Thursday night.

The Warriors were just a step slow all night and D.H. Conley was fully in rhythm on its way to a 5-0 win in an Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference match.

From the opening kickoff, Conley passed its way threw a porous Eastern Wayne defense with ease on the Little Big Horn pitch.

"(After the long layoff) we only had one practice, and it wasn't particularly a good one, and our defense was never able to really get a rhythm as a unit," Warriors head coach Jorg Wagner said.

Conley's ability to switch the field on a moment's notice left Eastern Wayne chasing the ball -- often a step behind. In the first 10 minutes, the Vikings' Morgan Sandy and Shelby Jones capitalized on easy goals after the ball had changed fields and been played to the gaps left by the recovering Warriors defense.

"They (change fields) so quick that if you're not anticipating it or you're not mentally in the game, they will take advantage of you," Wagner said.

Minutes later Jones scored again scored on a pass from Leslie Maloney and it could have turned into a mercy-rule game. Without Warriors goalie Erica Duke, who had a career-high 23 saves, it certainly would have.

In the 34th minute, the Vikings benefited when the Warriors' midfield failed to step to the ball. That gave sophomore Kinley Orians the space to bury a shot from 20 yards out in the right side of the net.

Eastern Wayne failed to place a shot on goal during the 80-minute match. Forwards Cheyenne Craft and Megan Mozingo could not get anything going toward the opposition's goal because they constantly were having to come back for the ball to fight for possession.

The few efforts Craft generated were thwarted swiftly by confident back line play from Conley sweeper Megan Jones.

Eastern Wayne shored up defensively in the second half and didn't concede near as many chances. The communication was better and the Warriors weren't as slow to the ball. The only goal they conceded stemmed from a foul in the box that led to Ava Dawson's penalty kick in the 62nd minute.

"I thought the last 20 minutes of the game our defense performed well, so that looks like something we may be able to carry over into our match tomorrow," Wagner said. "Technically they are the one of, if not, the most-gifted team in our conference. They make smart runs that open up large gaps that we couldn't fill tonight."

Eastern Wayne (6-5 overall, 4-5-0 ECC) rested its starters for much of the second half since it plays at J.H. Rose today. The Warriors play county rivals Charles B. Aycock and Southern Wayne next week.