ELIZABETHTOWN – Caleb Hatchell and Brooks McGill tallied a pair of goals and three assists each on Monday to lead East Bladen past visiting Whiteville, 9-0, in a Three Rivers Conference soccer match.
The win moved the Eagles to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
Greyson Heustess put East Bladen on the board with a goal early in the first half off assists from Hatchell and Keshaun Davis. Just a few blinks later, McGill found Hatchell with a pass and he buried a shot from in close for a 2-0 edge.
Hatchell struck again about 15 minutes into the match when he took a pass from Heustess and rocketed a shot to the back of the net to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
In the later part of the first half, Jacob Barber took a pass from B.J. Moore off a throw-in by Pierce Melvin and found the back of the net for a 4-0 East Bladen advantage.
The Eagles quickly gained control after the kickoff and Jake Evans’ corner kick found Melvin in the box, and Melvin knocked the ball home for a 5-0 Eagles edge at halftime.
East Bladen made it 6-0 early in the second half when McGill pounded a goal home off an assist from Gabe Barber — and just 2 minutes later, McGill scored again, this time off assists from Hatchell and Melvin, to up the lead to 7-0.
Mid-way through the second half, Gabe Barber scored off a pass from Heustess to give East Bladen an 8-0 lead — and 10 minutes later, Irvin Hernandez took a pass from Hatchell and drilled a shot home to finish the game on the mercy rule.
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Knights fall, 2-1
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— In Dublin on Monday, West Bladen outshot visiting East Columbus by an 18-7 margin, but came out on the short end of a 2-1 score in a Three Rivers Conference match.
The Gators scored twice in the first half and had a 2-1 edge at intermission. Neither team scored in the second half.
West Bladen is now 3-3-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.