East Bladen pushes on

EAST BLADEN

ELIZABETHTOWN-The number-six seeded East Bladen Lady Eagles march onto the third round of the NCHSAA 1A State playoffs with pivotal victories last week with a 9-nil victory in the opening round on Monday against Cape Hatteras and then they edged past Roxboro Community in a 1-nil victory on Friday. Last Monday’s first-round victory was a walk in the park for the Lady Eagles as they battered their opponents from the first minute with junior winger Jackie Medina-Leal opening the scoring with a solo finish.

Junior forward Iveonna “NeNe” Ward was at the top of the scoring-list with a hat-trick in the victory over the Hurricanes. The Lady Eagles continued to play a dominant game against the 11th-seeded Roxboro Community Lady Bulldogs, despite only scoring a single goal in their second-round matchup. The Lady Eagles had plenty of chances to open the scoring early but went without luck until Ward finally buried a pass from Heidi Rebollar into the back of the net in the 19th-minute of the first half. Roxboro were held to three shots on target for the entire match after previously winning their first-round game by 11 goals.

East Bladen’s overall record moves to 15-2-2 and they’ll continue their postseason journey against the number-three seeded Lejeune Lady Bulldogs in the next round on Monday evening. Lejeune has been equally impressive this postseason with a combined score of 13-0 through their first two rounds. The Lady Bulldogs overall record is 15-1-1 and they are led by freshmen forward Scarlett McLean with 53 goals so far this season.

The winner of Monday’s game will play the winner of (2)Woods Charter-(10) East Wake Academy in the Eastern Regional semi-final on Thursday.

OTHER RESULTS IN NCHSAA 2A State Playoff

ROCKY POINTE-The number-nine seeded Heide Trask Lady Titans continue their postseason charge after getting victories in their opening two rounds. They edged past Princeton with a 2-1 victory on Friday to set-up their showdown with the number one seeded Franklin Academy Patriots. The Waccamaw Conference champions will play a Franklin Academy side that hasn’t lost in 10 straight games and they are led by junior forward Olivia Olarte.

SAC 6 champions and the number-ten seeded Clinton Darkhorses make it to the third round for the third consecutive season as they’re set to take on two-seeded Manteo. The Darkhorses’ have won their first two games by a combined score of 14-2 and are led by experienced senior midfielder Ava Wilaford with 29 assists. Manteo junior striker Kenzie Flynn will go into Monday’s game with 33 goals and 16 assists.