Lady Yellowjackets sting East Bladen for 2-0 playoff win

May 20—ROANOKE RAPIDS — The Lady Yellowjackets of Roanoke Rapids, seeded No. 5 in the Class 2A East Region, and Lady Eagles of East Bladen, the No. 12 seed, each fired 12 shots at the other's net throughout Thursday's state tournament.

The difference was that two of Roanoke Rapids' shots found the back of the net. None of East Bladen's did.

:It was a great game and one of the better games we have played this year," said East Bladen coach Jay Raynor. "Roanoke is a good team and made two more plays than we did."

The Lady Yellowjackets struck first within the first few minutes of the match, scoring a goal that barely trickled across the line — a goal Raynor said "was a tough one to give up, but we were locked in after that."

Both teams remained stout on defense for the rest of the first half, and Roanoke Rapids took the 1-0 lead into the intermission.

"Roanoke Rapids was finding space behind our defensive midfielders," Raynor said. "That was causing our backs to be pulled and forcing them to cover space in front — that opened a lot of space behind us.

"The adjustment caused (Roanoke Rapids) to get out of what they wanted to do, as well as forced a lot of turnovers," he added. "They got visually frustrated and I credit our girls for that."

The score remained at 1-0 throughout most of the second half. But with about a minute left in the match, the Lady Yellowjackets managed to get around the East Bladen defense and fire home a shot with 48 seconds remaining.

"It was deflating, for sure," Raynor said.

It was the ninth shutout of the season by Roanoke Rapids.

Despite the loss and end to the season, Raynor was complimentary of his players.

"Our backs and goal keeper did an unbelievable job for us," he said. "Everyone played well on the defensive side of the ball, but I thought Molly Evans and Reese Hester had the best games of their lives.

"Maya (McDonald) had some decent looks, but we just couldn't seem to find the right ball at her feet," Raynor continued. "She was getting marked with two, then three girls a majority of the game."

The Lady Eagles finished the season at 13-3. During the season, East Bladen recorded eight shutouts, including six straight, and outscored their opponents by an 87-27 margin — finishing second in the SAC-7 at 8-2.

"We had a great season," Raynor concluded. "I hope we can build off this year going forward.

"We love our seniors (McDonald, Victoria Riveria, Merritt Martin) and they will be tough to replace — their leadership and desire to be better (has) taught the underclassmen a lot," Raynor said.

Season stats

McDonald led the Lady Eagles with 44 goals during the season and also led the team with 19 assists.

Ievona Ward tallied 15 goals for East Bladen and Heidi Rebollar added 13 goals. Jackie Medina-Leal contributed 10 assists, while Ward and Rebollar each had seven and Cydney Campbell had six.

Defensively, Acee Campbell led the team with 392 steals, followed be Rebollar with 350, Anna Miranda with 334, Zoe Smith with 320, Molly Evans with 305 and Jackie Medina-Leal with 300.

In the nets, Hester saw a bulk of the action and was credited with the team's eight shutouts.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-862-4163 or cvincent@bladenjournal.com.