Center backs rarely get to jump in on the offensive fun in a soccer match. So when a player with Aubrey Mayberry’s skill set and 6-foot frame was asked to join the scrum in the goal mouth in overtime of a match against a crosstown rival, she was ready.
Mayberry’s header off a corner kick by Rebekah Ochoa in the 95th minute was the match-winning goal in D.H. Conley’s 4-3 victory over J.H. Rose on Tuesday in a Big Carolina 3A/4A Conference girls soccer showdown.
“My adrenaline came in and I was like, ‘I’m going to get my head on this ball and put it in the goal’ and I did,” Mayberry said.
“She’s versatile,” D.H. Conley coach Marlen Merritt said. “She can play on the offensive game or the defensive game. She’s molded herself into a center back. She has those offensive qualities. She knows how to score.”
The victory helped extend the Vikings’ win streak to 10 matches and was their second win over the Rampants this season — D.H. Conley (11-3, 8-0 Big Carolina) won 1-0 in Hollywood Crossroads on March 14.
But unlike the previous nine in the streak, in which the Vikings outscored their opponents by a whopping 61-1 margin, J.H. Rose made them rally to earn it.
The Rampants’ Carys Carson was taken down in the box in the 24th minute. Carson then stepped up to take the subsequent penalty kick and drilled it low and left past D.H. Conley goalkeeper Madison Hopkins — who guessed correctly but couldn’t stop the well-struck shot — to give J.H. Rose an early lead.
In the 36th minute, the Rampants’ Willow Price dribbled down the left flank and crossed over to Mya Zambardino, who finished inside the far post to stake J.H. Rose to the 2-0 lead it carried into intermission.
“Once you get one in, it kind of breaks the seal,” J.H. Rose coach Kurt Garner said. “But I think the biggest thing is we were finally making some connecting passes, spreading the field instead of headers, kickball.”
Merritt said they did make some adjustments and shift some things around, but she zeroed in on one aspect that bothered her when talking to her team during the break.
“We had to talk about our intensity — it was very low,” Merritt said. “Lacking in that first half. We had to turn it on.”
J.H. Rose was called for a handball in the box in the 44th minute. Ochoa converted the ensuing penalty kick to cut the Rampants’ advantage in half.
“We had a conversation about that after the game,” Garner said. “It’s one of those things that gets their morale down. It gets stuck in their heads. Then it’s one mistake after another.”
Ten minutes later, at the midfield line, the Vikings’ Sydney Schwartz found teammate Marissa Sutton with a perfect pass. Sutton finished the breakaway opportunity by shooting just inside the far post to tie the match at 2-2.
D.H. Conley took the lead in the 61st minute as J.H. Rose goalkeeper Parker Hawley stopped a blast by Sutton, but Sadie Southern was nearby and quickly kicked in the rebound.
“After we scored that first goal, I feel like the team just meshed,” Merritt said. “We had our chemistry back.”
Carson notched her second goal a minute later for J.H. Rose, with an assist from Ella Barrow, to tie the match again, setting up Mayberry’s late-match heroics halfway through the second 10-minute overtime session.
“They do rally pretty well,” Garner said of his team. “We spend a lot of time of finding the urgency in practice and in drills.”
The Vikings outshot the Rampants 18-11 and had five corner kicks to Rose’s three. Hawley finished with 13 saves for the Rampants.
D.H. Conley’s streak came in the aftermath of opening the season with three difficult opponents from New Hanover County — Hoggard, Laney and still-unbeaten Ashley — that left the Vikings with a 1-3 start.
But the road gets no easier as the Vikings have to quickly turn around and face Jacksonville — like them, still unbeaten in conference action — at home on Wednesday.
“We’ve done our homework,” Merritt said of the Cardinals. “We’re ready. We just have to get rest tonight. Getting healthy, staying hydrated. We’re ready.”
J.H. Rose (10-3-1, 6-3) will travel to play New Bern on Thursday.
BASEBALL
J.H. Rose 5, New Bern 1
Rose broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the fifth inning on Tuesday night and was never threatened.
The Rampants (19-2, 9-1) got a complete game from senior Davis Hathaway, who limited the Bears to four hits while striking out four and walking two. Owen Simmons continued to be one of Rose’s primary run producers, driving in three of his team’s four runs while Alex Popovich was 2-for-3 and Parker Watson doubled and drove in a run.
Rose is off until April 30 when the Rampants host Havelock.
D.H. Conley 17, Jacksonville 7 (6 inn.)
The Vikings blitzed the Cardinals for five first-inning runs on Tuesday night, then smashed home five more in the third to take a commanding lead 12-3 lead en route to a six-inning win.
Conley (16-2, 8-1) won for the seventh straight time after cranking out 13 hits.
The Vikings travel to New Bern on Thursday before hosting Ayden-Grifton on Saturday afternoon.
South Central 14, Havelock 0 (5 inn.)
The Falcons made it three straight wins on Tuesday night, leading 2-0 after two before pounding home six each in the third and fourth.
SC (14-4, 6-3) limited the Rams to two hits and knocked seven of their own.
South Central hosts Jacksonville on Thursday.
Greene Central 4, Farmville Central 1
It wasn’t the blowout they’ve become accustomed to this season, but the Rams got a big Eastern Plains Conference win on Tuesday night after riding a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning, plating two in that inning and an insurance tally in the seventh.
The teams each managed just four hits. Despite the loss, FC’s Trey Williford turned in his usual performance with nine strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed in six innings. At the plate, the Jaguars (11-6, 7-2) got a double off the bat of Avery Johnson, Williford notched two hits and Brett Cash was credited with the lone RBI.
Greene Central (19-0, 11-0) travels to Farmville on Friday night.
John Paul II 9, Wayne Christian 3
The Saints took an early 4-0 lead and never trailed on Tuesday night.
Aaron Gregory and Noah Sugg each had two of the seven total hits for JPII (13-7, 6-2), and Sugg and Ethan Staton each drove in two runs. Max Mason, JT Williams and James Donofrio notched the other RBIs.
John Paul II hosted Bear Grass Charter on Wednesday.
West Craven 12, North Pitt 3
North Pitt’s losing skid reached eight on Tuesday night in a game that saw the Panthers leading 3-2 after the first inning but fall silent the rest of the night.
The Panthers (3-14, 0-9) managed four total hits, all singles, and two of them came from Bryce Henderson. Tylik Sherrod was credited with the lone RBI in the loss.
West Craven visits Bethel on Thursday night.
SOFTBALL
D.H. Conley 11, Jacksonville 1 (5 inn.)
The Vikings got back into the win column after a non-league loss on Monday night, piling up all 11 of their runs in the first three innings and being boosted by seven Jacksonville errors.
The hosts needed just five hits to secure the win.
Conley (14-4, 9-1) plays at New Bern on Thursday.
Farmville Central 17, Greene Central 2 (4 inn.)
The Jags snapped their recent skid with an easy win over winless Greene Central on Tuesday night.
The win featured a 10-run first inning followed by a five-run second from FC (10-5, 5-4), which pounded out 22 hits. Eight players had multiple hits for the Jaguars. Haleigh Long was 3-for-3 with a triple, three runs and three RBIs, Aidyn McLawhorn was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Jayden Speight was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Also for Farmville, Hannah Sugg was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI, Savannah Bland was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, Raegan Hogge was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Claire Neely was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Laycie Eastwood was 2-for-4 and Paris Davis added a triple.
Bland struck out seven, walked one and allowed four hits for the Jags, who host the Rams on Friday night.
South Central 9, Havelock 6
The Falcons battled past the Rams on Tuesday night after falling behind 5-0 after two, then scoring nine unanswered runs until one final Havelock tally in the seventh.
Haven Roebuck’s banner season continued as the junior blasted two home runs, doubled and drove in six runs. Blair Adee added a triple and an RBI, while Lacey Spivey doubled and Maddie Zobre was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
SC (11-4, 8-1) hosts Jacksonville on Thursday.
New Bern 10, J.H. Rose 0 (5 inn.)
Rose could not bounce back from a 4-0 first-inning deficit, yielding another run in the second and five more in the fifth to end the game early and give the Bears their 14th win of the season.
The Rampants (7-11, 2-8) were no-hit by junior Molly McGuire, who struck out five and walked none in five innings of work.
Rose hosts Havelock on April 30.
Wayne Christian 12, John Paul II 2 (6 inn.)
The Saints lost a second straight game on Tuesday night after falling behind 8-0 after four innings and never recovering.
JPII (7-11, 1-2) managed four hits, just two off of starter Riley Sutton, who struck out seven Saints. Bailey Tyndall doubled and drove in a run but no Saint managed more than one hit.
John Paul II hosted Bear Grass Charter on Wednesday.
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