BLADENBORO – The West Bladen Lady Knights fought for a 1-1 draw against the St. Pauls’ Bulldogs last Friday in a SAC 6 Conference match-up. St. Pauls got the first real chances in front of goal with senior striker Navaeh Liles beating the West Bladen backline in a footrace towards the ball and was able to pose a threat to her opponents net. She missed the first few chances but she was able to smash a shot into the bottom right corner ten minutes later as the visitors went up 1-nil.
West Bladen got through on goal moments later after junior midfielder Faith Wren charged forward on a solo-run but failed to get a shot away before being closed down by defenders. The Lady Knights stayed on the front foot as they controlled possession for the next couple of minutes and were able to get a shot on target from senior forward O’mara McDonald. Liles sprinted past defenders once more after a long-ball from the defense landed in a dangerous area but the Bulldogs failed to capitalize.
Freshman defender Ashley Garcia Uh almost doubled the visitors lead with a looping shot from distance that forced the Lady Knights keeper to make a double-save. West Bladen’s Jazmy Funez Aranda delivered a corner kick that went clean across the six-yard box without a touch but the host could sense a goal coming in their future. The Lady Knights would eventually break the deadlock to earn a hard fought draw in their second conference match-up this season.
West Bladen moves to an overall record of 2-7-2 and their conference record moves to 1-0-1 so far. They will take on the Clinton Darkhorses for their next game this Tuesday on the road, then the Whiteville Wolfpack will clash with them at home on Wednesday and the Lady Knights will close the week out against Clinton this Friday. Clinton has posted an overall record of 3-6-1 so far but they’ve started conference action with two straight wins over Midway.