JACKSONVILLE — With just 6:10 left on the clock in the second half of extra time with the score tied 2-2, East Duplin’s Anamarie Rodriguez headed in the game’s winning goal on April 30 to defeat Southwest Onslow and secure the conference title.
“I really just threw my body at it,” Rodruguez said. “The biggest thing was just getting to the ball.”
Heading into the match, the anticipation couldn’t have been higher; if East Duplin (8-0 in North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A East Central Conference play) won, they would clinch the conference title outright. If Southwest Onslow (7-1 in conference play) won, they would tie East Duplin for first place and potentially have a chance to take the conference with one match remaining.
To add to the anticipation, the last time the two teams faced off on April 9, the game went to extra time where Anamarie Rodriguez sealed a 2-1 win for the Panthers with a perfectly placed shot in the 96th minute.
The first half of the game started off as a defensive battle with both teams doing a good job of preventing offensive chances from turning into goals. It was East Duplin that finally broke the deadlock when junior Miranda Roblero placed an excellent pass into the box which, after a fight for the ball, sophomore Raegan Campbell got a hold of and drilled into the back of the net with just 35 seconds left in the first half to give her team a 1-0 lead.
After scoring the game’s opening goal in the first half, the Panthers came out pressuring in the ball early in the second half, and that paid off when, 20 minutes into the second half, East Duplin Katelyn Jones stole a loose ball in the Southwest Onslow half of the field and shot it past the goalkeeper to double their lead.
The Panthers two-goal lead didn’t last long though as just one minute later Southwest Onslow senior Taylor Carper scored to cut the East Duplin lead to 2-1. Later in the half with the clock ticking down, Carper scored again in the 78th minute when she received the ball on the edge of the penalty box and hit the ball underneath the goalkeeper who came charging out of her box to tie the game and send it to extra time.
From the start of extra time, East Duplin took control of the game and dominated possession and created multiple chances. None of them panned out though until, in the 94th minute, Rodriguez once again killed the Stallions’ hopes with a late extra-time goal to seal the 3-2 victory for the Panthers as well as the conference title.
Along with the conference title, the goal also gave Rodriguez her 17th goal of the season which is the most of any player on her team and the fourth most of any player in the conference.
With the win, East Duplin improved to 14-5-1 overall and 9-0 in conference play. Southwest Onslow fell to 9-6-1 overall and 8-2 in conference play with the loss.
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