BEULAVILLE – The fifth seeded East Duplin Panthers defeated the 28th seeded Jordan-Matthews Jets 5-2 in the first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A state playoffs on May 13.
Heading into the match, both East Duplin and Jordan-Matthews were playing some of their best soccer of the season with the Panthers winning six matches and tying once in their last eight and the Jets winning five out of their last seven.
However, East Duplin, who had earned a better seeding with a much better overall record, proved why they were worthy of the high ranking when they scored in just the third minute thanks to an excellent shot from Miranda Roblero who was able to chip the goalkeeper for the match’s opening goal.
After several goalscoring opportunities, the Panthers found the back of the net again 31 minutes later when senior Elleanna Rogers was tackled inside of the penalty box which set up a penalty kick for freshman Anamarie Rodriguez. On the penalty kick, Rodriguez went for the left corner of the goal, and the keeper dove in the right direction and almost saved it getting her fingertips on the ball. The shot was struck too well though, and it went past the keeper for East Duplin’s second goal of the game.
At the start of the second half, the Panthers then extended their lead to 3-0 as Kaydance Drinkwater scored on an assist from senior Yuliana Chavarria in the 43rd minute of the game. Six minutes later, they extended their lead to 4-0 when junior Katelyn Jones scored on another assist from Chavarria in the 49th minute of the game.
Just when it seemed as if the game was over though, Jordan-Matthews sophomore Dalia Botello scored back-to-back goals in the 60th and 62nd minutes of the game to cut the Panthers lead to 4-2.
With the Panthers needing a goal Chavarria stepped up again for her team and provided her third assist of the game in the 74th minute of the game to none other than East Duplin leading scorer Rodriguez who scored her second goal of the game to seal a 5-2 victory for East Duplin.
East Duplin head coach Joey Jones said that he was proud of the way the girls came out attacking the goal early in the game.
“I think we had a good start. We put some goals in the net kind of early. I thought the girls came out and played fairly well,” Jones said.
Jones also said that a big reason for their success in the game was their two wingers Miranda Roblero and Elleanna Rogers with Roblero scoring the opening goal and Rogers setting up the second goal with her excellent attacking play in the box which set up a penalty kick.
“I feel like I’ve two really good outside players, and they do a good job of crossing the ball, and they also take some of the corners,” Jones said.
With the win, East Duplin improved to 16-5-2 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs. Jordan-Matthews finished the season with a record of 8-12-1 overall with the loss.
Most Popular
Comments / 0