BLADENBORO – The St. Pauls Bulldogs defeated the West Bladen Knights for a 9-1 victory in a SAC 6 Conference matchup last Wednesday. St. Pauls’ got their first chance in front of goal on an Omar Canuto snap shot that forced a save from West Bladen junior keeper Dylan Hernandez. The Bulldogs front-line tested their opponents a few moments later but the hosts were able to recover in time to block a pending shot.

West Bladen manufactured an attack toward their opponent’s goal but the visitor defense held firm to produce a counter of their own. A diagonal ball traveled across the field to a Bulldog midfielder for a shot that glanced wide of the Knights goal. West Bladen moved the ball quickly down the field on the ensuing goal kick and Jonah Bryan was able to use his head to connect on a cross for a shot on target.

The Bulldogs resumed play with a ball over the top to spring forward Canuto into space before he was dragged down for a foul outside the box. Senior midfielder Kevin Lopez Tellez stood over the freekick before lifting his shot over the wall and into the top left corner of the net for the match’s first goal in the 25th minute. St. Pauls smelled blood in the water after the goal and kept pressing forward until they forced a mistake out of their opponent’s defense to force a turnover in a dangerous area.

Canuto took a couple of touches before setting his shot from outside the box to score the second goal of the evening. St. Pauls continued to play a free-flowing game with most of possession in their favor but their opponents were able to catch them off-guard with a counterattack that resulted in a Bryan goal in the 20th minute. Brayn’s goal was assisted by Kevyn De La Cruz Labra to help get the Knights their first goal. The game went back to a brief stalemate for the next 10 minutes with the best chances in front of goal falling to the Knights.

Armando Burugete extended the visitors lead in the eighth minute after dancing around multiple defenders before blasting a low-shot past Hernandez as the game went to 3-1. Canuto would get another opportunity to score a brace for himself as he rocketed his shot from distance off the post. West Bladen’s Luis Garcia-Sanchez dribbled past his defender on the flank and sent his shot straight into the side-netting for the host’s final chance in the first half.

Yordan Rodriguez scores in the final seconds of the half to give the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead going into the break. St. Pauls cruised in the final 40 minutes as they added five more goals onto their lead to seal their ninth victory of the season. Their overall record moves to 9-8-1 and moves to 2-3 in conference play as they claim third-place spot in the standings. West Bladen’s overall record moves to 7-6 and they sit in fifth-place with a conference record of 3-4.

The Knights take on Clinton (7-2, 5-0) at home this Monday with three games remaining in the regular-season. Clinton defeated the Knights for a 9-nil victory in their first meeting and they’ve only allowed a single goal in five conference games as the Darkhorses sit atop the summit of the SAC 6 in first-place.

Soccer Schedule:

North Brunswick 4, West Bladen 2

West Bladen 3, Heide Trask 2

West Bladen 8, Whiteville 0

West Bladen 1, North Brunswick 0

West Bladen 9, Whiteville 1

West Bladen 2, East Columbus 0

West Bladen 3, South Columbus 2

Lumberton 6, West Bladen 0

St. Pauls 8, West Bladen 1

Clinton 9, West Bladen 0

Midway 6, West Bladen 0

West Bladen 4, Red Springs 2

St. Pauls 9, West Bladen 1

Clinton (Oct. 21)

at Midway (Oct. 23)

at Red Springs (Oct. 30)

2024 ROSTER:

Aiden Russ (SR)

Jonah Bryan (JR)

Bryan Ortiz-Aguilar (SR)

Jonathan Ortiz-Hernandez (JR)

Kevyn De La Cruz Labra (SR)

Luis Garcia-Sanchez (SR)

Christopher Ramirez Labra (SR)

Kevin Rojas-Rojas (JR)

James Vasquez-Garcia (JR)

Irving Mentado-Ortiz (SR)

Alejandro Lopez Sandoval (SO)

Jason Martinez-Sanchez JR)

Kevin Sebastian (JR)

Gerson Verdugo-Roblero (JR)

Enrique Rodriguez-Gonzalez (JR)

Carlos Gonzalez Flores SR)

Shandell Gonzalez (SR)

John Randy Reyes-Garcia (SR)

Dylan Hernandez (JR)

AROUND THE SAC 6:

Franklin Academy (15-1-3, 8-0) 3, Clinton (7-2, 5-0) 1

(10/16) Clinton (7-2, 5-0) 5, Midway (11-4-1, 3-2) 1