ELIZABETHTOWN — The Lady Eagles moved closer to a perfect regular season on Tuesday when they whitewashed visiting Red Springs in a Three Rivers Conference match, 4-0.
The win improved East Bladen to 16-0 overall and clinched their first conference title in school history with a 13-0 record. The Lady Eagles will finish up the conference season on Friday by hosting West Bladen at 6 p.m.
On Tuesday, East Bladen got off to a fast start, as Patience Ward took a feed from Hannah Devane and rocketed a shot to the back of the net for a 1-0 lead just 4 minutes into the match.
As play settled in, the Lady Eagles found an opening midway through the first half — and it was the same combination to find success for East Bladen. Devane found Ward with a pass and she scored her second goal to give the Lady Eagles a 2-0 edge, which stood until halftime.
In the 15th minute of the second half, East Bladen extended its lead to 3-0 when Kenia Medina fed the ball to Katie Evans, who sent a shot into the net.
As the match was beginning to wind down, Devane scored off a pass from Evans to seal the 4-0 win. It was Devane’s 22nd goal of the season.
The Lady Eagles dominated the match at both ends of the pitch, outshooting Red Springs by a 24-1 margin, and net-minder Ting Lin earned the shutout win without facing a single shot on goal.
Defensively, East Bladen tallied 123 steals — led by Evans with 17; Devane with 14; Gracyn Martin with 13; the trio of Cybil Campbell, Lily Lin and Ward with 12 each; Medina with 11; and Isabella Smith with 10.
The lady Eagles also had a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.
W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-862-4163 or cvincent@bladenjournal.com.