East Bladen’s Davion Lewis (22) and Hobbton’s Efer Ramos (17) battle for the ball during Friday’s Carolina Conference boys’ soccer tournament championship game. Hobbton won 4-1.
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
The East Bladen boys’ soccer team finished runners-up to Hobbton in the Carolina Conference tournament.
Sonny Jones / Bladen Journal
East Bladen’s Ishaq Algozy ((10) dribbles the ball against Hobbton during Friday’s Carolina Conference boys’ soccer tournament championship game. Hobbton won 4-1.
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
East Bladen’s Jayce Hatcher kicks the ball downfield during Friday’s game against Hobbton.
Kenneth Armstrong / kenarmphoto.com
East Bladen’s Ishaq Algozy (left) and a Hobbton player run for the ball during Friday’s championship soccer match.
Sonny Jones / Bladen Journal
East Bladen players get ready to start Friday’s match against Hobbton in the Carolina Conference tournament championship.
Sonny Jones / Bladen Journal
SALEMBURG – The East Bladen boys’ soccer team was hoping for a treat on a Halloween afternoon. Instead, it was Hobbton that provided the tricks.
The two-time defending N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A runners-up defeated the Eagles 4-1 Friday to win the Carolina Conference tournament championship played on James E. Lewis Field at Lakewood High School.
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The top-seeded Wildcats (12-8-1) controlled field position through much of the match, used a pair of own goals by second-seeded East Bladen (13-6-4) and got goals from Ricardo Diaz and Daniel Espino to take home the trophy. The Eagles also had a goal disallowed when the ball went out of bounds before Ishaq Algozy passed to Miguel Ventura for a shot that ended in the back of the net.
“When you’ve got that type of championship mindset and culture, you believe,” East Bladen coach Jay Raynor said about Hobbton. “We see it, we think it, but, sometimes when we make some mistakes, we stop believing. That’s the hump that we’ve got to get over.”
Hobbton eliminated the Eagles in the second round of the state 1A playoffs the past two seasons. East Bladen played the Wildcats to a 2-all draw in September and lost to Hobbton 6-1 in a rematch later this season.
East Bladen’s lone goal came with a minute remaining when Tyler Eason dribbled toward the left corner and passed to Andrio Garcia, who kicked it in.
“I thought we came out strong and we finished strong,” Raynor said. “We talked to them about character when we went down 4-0. It was about finishing, playing until the whistle … and just not quitting or just not giving up and just believing.”
Both teams will advance to the NCHSAA 2A playoffs. Pairings are expected to be announced Sunday with first-round games scheduled Tuesday. The top eight seeds in the East will receive a first-round bye. Seeds nine through 16 will host first-round games.
“Hopefully, we’ll be hosting a first-round game and just try to make a run,” Raynor said. “Soccer is a sport that in just a few moments you can be ahead and then be behind pretty quickly. We just want to put our best foot forward, generate our own luck and just go compete and play hard.”
Hobbton’s two first half scores came on East Bladen own goals. The first came in the game’s 18th minute when the keeper inadvertently carried the ball over the goal line. In the 34th minute, Hobbton’s Jose Rivas stole a pass, shot toward the goal and it bounced off an East Bladen defender and into the net.
After East Bladen’s disallowed goal in the 54th minute, Hobbton made it 4-0 in a five-minute span to seal the win and the tournament championship.
East Bladen advanced to the finals with a 2-1 double overtime win against Union on Thursday. Hobbton defeated Lakewood 4-1 in the other semifinal.
Sonny Jones can be reached at [email protected].