BEULAVILLE — For the first time in program history, the East Duplin girls soccer team has advanced to the third round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state playoffs thanks to their 5-1 victory over Southwest Onslow on May 16.
Heading into the game, the pressure was on for the Panthers as they not only had a chance to make history by advancing to third round for the first time ever, but they also had a chance to sweep the season series against their conference rivals after defeating them twice this season with both games going to extra time.
The Panthers rose to the challenge though, and less than two minutes into the game, freshman Anamarie Rodriguez assisted junior Katelyn Jones who tapped in the game’s opening goal.
Three minutes later, East Duplin scored again when senior Elleanna Rogers received the ball on the left side of the field— a long distance away from goal— and sensing an opening, without even being square to the goal, took a quick shot which sailed over the goalkeeper’s head and into the top right corner of the net to give her team a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers kept attacking the goal, and in the 23rd minute, they struck again when Kaydance Drinkwater got on the end of a loose ball in the box and tapped it into the back of the net.
The East Duplin offense wasn’t done though, and in the 32nd minute, Rodriguez, who assisted the game’s opening goal, also scored to put her team up 4-0.
The Panthers went on to score their final goal of the game in the 49th minute when Rodriguez assisted Jones, just like on the game’s opening goal, to put their team up 5-0.
In the 59th minute, Taylor Carper scored to finally put Southwest on the scoreboard, but it was far too late as the Panthers held on to win by a final score of 5-1.
East Duplin Head coach Joey Jones said that he was proud of the way his team handled the pressure of such a big game.
“These girls really responded,” Jones said. “We kept telling them how big this deal was. We (made) a few tweaks to (the gameplan) because we knew they were going to come with some different things, and it just kind of paid off. Scoring early helped a lot.”
Jones also said that a big reason for their success was their unselfishness with four different players scoring in the win.
“They’ve been a great team to work with: a very coachable team, and they’ve done everything that we’ve asked,” Jones said. “(They are) one of the best groups that I can remember … They have really worked together as a group.”
With the win, East Duplin improved to 17-5-2 overall and advanced to third round of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs. Southwest Onslow finished the season with a record of 10-7-3 overall with the loss.
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