Pender’s Aiden Murray (left) defends East Bladen’s Zac Metz (right).
ELIZABETHTOWN — The Pender Patriots defeated the East Bladen Eagles for a 3-nil victory on Monday evening in a Waccamaw Conference clash. The Patriots got two goals from junior midfielder Aiden Murray and a goal from junior winger Aaron Santiago in the shutout win. The Eagles started the game with charging runs forward that their opponents struggled to cope with in the first 12 minutes of the half.
East Bladen were most threatening on corner kicks as they got several opportunities in the six-yard box but failed to bury the chances. The Patriots grew into the game after the 26th minute mark and began to make their move towards their opponents goal with slick passing. The Eagles defense responded well to the pressure at first but fatigue began to set in as they chased behind their opponents passes and were starting to get pinned inside their own half.
East Bladen were able to scrap for the ball in defense to spring a counter attacking opportunity that was snuffed out by the visitors on the other end due to a foul at the edge of the box. The Eagles ran a set-piece play on the ensuing freekick and senior left-back Zac Metz connected his pass to junior center-back Colin King for a shot towards goal that was blocked by a defender.
The Patriots would get a hold of the ball a few minutes later and put together a move towards their opponents goal. The ball was knocked towards the Patriots left side of the field before Hayden Beaver sent his cross into a dangerous area inside the penalty area where Santiago was waiting to receive. He was able to corral the cross and slap the ball into the bottom left corner to give the Patriots a 1-nil lead in the 15th minute of the first half.
East Bladen senior midfielder Jamie Delgado served a line-breaking ball over the top to put sophomore forward Tevin McClean in on goal but the visitors defense was able to recover and clear away the pending danger. The Eagles got one last chance to score in the first half but their opponent’s keeper was up for the challenge to make a point-blank save.
Pender struck again at the beginning of the second half when Murray smashed his shot from outside the box to extend the lead to 2-nil in the 36th minute. The Eagles almost responded immediately but McClean wasn’t able to convert the chance inside the box as two defenders rushed towards him. The Eagles kept pushing on offense and Delgado found time from outside the box to strike a ball that rattled off the crossbar to indicate the game was far from over.
Delgado would have another opportunity in front of goal when Metz corner kick connected for a headed chance that glanced wide of the mark to keep the match at 2-nil. The Patriots sat back to defend for the majority of the half and protected their lead while their opponents attempted to force long balls over the top. Pender were quick to turn defense into offense as they caught their opponents on the counter with Murray in the middle of the park pulling the strings.
They almost extended the lead in the 29th minute but senior forward Deshaun Alderman was dispossessed inside the Eagles box before he could send his shot. The Eagle strategy of kick and rush almost put them into good situations but the visitors’ defense held firmly. Murray was taken down inside the box to give the Patriots a penalty kick in the 15th minute and Murray would go-on to bury the spot-kick to extend the lead to 3-nil.
The Patriots victory against their closest rival in conference allows them to take command of Waccamaw as they sit atop the standings with a perfect 9-0 record. East Bladen were defeated at home against Heide Trask for a 3-1 loss on Wednesday but they stay in second place with a record of 7-2 in conference match-ups. The Eagles will have three games remaining in the regular season with their next game on the road against West Columbus on Monday.