Hawks fall to Eastern Wayne

LA GRANGE—For the better part of 68 minutes, the North Lenoir soccer team lived on the edge. In the 69th minute, the Hawks paid for their recklessness.

                Eastern Wayne’s Henry Nelson broke a scoreless tie with a header at 69:23, and then the Warriors added an insurance goal three minutes later to cap a 2-0 non-conference victory Wednesday at Bullock Field.

                 “We’re a young team that’s still learning and we made a couple of defensive mistakes there near the end,” Hawks coach Donnell Garris said. “The difference is that Eastern Wayne capitalized on our errors and we didn’t take advantage when we had chances.”

                The Hawks (0-2-1) didn’t get too many chances. They were outshot 16-6 and failed to create more than a couple solid scoring opportunities.

                North Lenoir’s Braxton Greene missed high dead on from about 10 yards in the 27th minute and an attempt by Nicholas Kennedy from just inside the penalty box sailed wide right a few minutes into the second half.

                Almost the entire first half was played on the Hawks’ side of the field as the Warriors dominated the opening 40 minutes.

                Eastern Wayne (3-1) took nine shots in the first half, but the North Lenoir defense and goalie Jacob Baird held tough.

                “They attacked and really put pressure on us in the first half,” Garris said. “But our kids deserve a lot of credit. They fought all the contested balls and Jacob backed them up with some outstanding saves.”

                Ironically, the Hawks actually played much better in the second half despite giving up two goals. They were often the aggressor on offense but failed to generate any rhythm.

                Ten times the Hawks were whistled for offside in the contest, disrupting any offensive flow. According to Garris, the barrage of whistles definitely adversely affected his team.

                “It got to the point where we thought we were going to be called for offside every time we attacked,” Garris said. “We let it get inside our heads way too much.”

                The Warriors finally put the game away on Deonte Davis’s goal in the 72^nd minute. The obviously gassed Hawks failed to threaten in the final 8 minutes.

                “They’re a good team, well-coached, and we got tired at the end,” Garris said. “On the bright side, I thought we played hard and really pushed them at times in the second half.”

                The Hawks return to action Monday when they travel to Beulaville to face East Duplin.