PITTSBORO – The East Duplin Panthers’ season came to an end on May 20 as they were defeated 7-0 by the Seaforth Hawks in the third round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A state playoffs.
On paper, the match looked as if it would be a close one with Seaford holding the number four seed and East Duplin holding the number five seed; however, the match was anything but, and it took the Hawks less than seven minutes to score the game’s opener when sophomore Sofia Viana tapped in the game’s opening goal.
In the 13th minute of the game, they struck again when junior Caitlin Erman got on the end of a well-placed cross and headed the ball past the East Duplin goalkeeper.
Up 2-0, the Hawks continued to attack, and sophomore Regan Willauer took a shot on goal and missed but was tackled while taking the shot which meant that Seaforth earned a penalty kick. Willauer also stepped up to take a penalty kick, and she smashed it into the top left corner of the net to give her team a 3-goal lead.
Three minutes into the second half, Willauer then scored again with an incredible volley to all but put the game away as she gave her team a 4-0 lead.
Later in the half, Seaforth freshman Elizabeth Platt also scored to give her team a 5-0 lead, and then Viana scored the game’s final two goals to earn a hattrick as well as the 100th and 101st goals of her two-year career and give her team a 7-0 victory.
East Duplin head coach Joey Jones said, after the match, that he was disappointed with the result against Seaforth but was proud of what his team accomplished this season.
“It’s been fantastic. Those girls have been great. They’ve made the whole season fun. It’s a shame it ends like this, but (there were) a lot of memories made this year, history too with the third round (playoff) appearance.”
Jones also said that with the young group of girls he has, he is excited about the future of the soccer program.
“The future looks bright. We had a good young bunch come in last year and this year … I think the soccer program looks good for the next several years.
With the loss, East Duplin finished the season 17-6-2 overall. With the win, Seaforth is now undefeated in 21 straight matches with 20 victories and one tie during that stretch, and improved to 22-1-1 overall this season.
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