VikingsSweepRaidersSoccer

NORTHERN VANCE SOCCER TOPS SOUTHERN VANCE, 5-2
The inclement weather moving through the area Wednesday night spared Raider Stadium in Northern and Southern’s season-ending crosstown rivalry match.  Northern scored three minutes into the match, building a 4-1 advantage before the Raiders cut the lead in half in the 52nd minute. The Vikings slammed the door shut with a late, 76th-minute goal to give the away side the derby sweep. Northern won the first matchup 6-3.

“I’m happy for all the guys. It’s been a long season,” said coach David Hicks, whose Vikings finish the season 2-18-2 (2-8). “We went from really struggling to where we really started putting out some extra effort that put us in contention to win a couple of games that we lost earlier in the season. The effort brought forth better results which brought forth some confidence.”

Southern finishes at the bottom of the Carolina 3A Conference standings with no wins. The Raiders had five wins overall, including two by forfeit.

Southern honored four seniors before the match during senior night festivities: Cameron Eatmon, Joel Lopez-Hernandez, Adris Ragland and Justin Furlow.

Furlow, a member of the football and cross country teams, joined the soccer team two weeks ago.

“He’s done a great job of filling in spots. He’s been inspirational on the bench,” said Raiders assistant coach James Wagner. “Adris Ragland is a track star, he made the finals in the 800m last year. He’s fast. He’s done a great job. He had never played soccer until the season started.”

“Joel Lopez has great skill, he’s our leader in the field. He’s done a great job. Without Eatmon, 5-2 turns into 15-2. He organizes, he goes to the ball and clears it. And he’s scored four or five goals from the fullback spot. He’s got great skill, he can see the field and people listen to him.”

Southern trimmed the lead to 4-2 in the 52nd minute when Giovanni Puga dribbled in from the right and blasted a close-range shot by Vikings goalkeeper Will Cooper. Cooper and the Northern defense were under the impression that offsides had been ruled, providing Puga with an easy path to score.

A little over a minute later, Southern nearly got another one back when Humberto Salaazar chipped a no-look pass deep down the right side for Lopez-Hernandez. Lopez-Hernandez dribbled in, putting the ball on his right foot before having his attempt stopped by Cooper.

In the 54th, Ragland went down with a foot injury and was unable to return. Eatmon also left the game with an injury later in the match.

The Vikings created two more opportunities before Justin Munn scored his fourth goal of the night, knocking in a deflection of his own shot. Munn finishes the season with 20 goals, 15 of which came in conference play.

“Everybody got in,” Hicks said of the game overall. “Everybody got some time. I thought everybody did something extremely well.”

Munn opened the scoring just over three minutes into the match on an assist from Raymond West.

“The only problem with a goal that early is that sometimes your players think, ‘well this is going to be easy.’ Fortunately, we didn’t do that,” said Hicks.

West and Munn again connected for the second goal in the 22nd minute. West threw the ball in from the right sideline, finding Munn for a header to make it 2-0.

“Munn’s gotten exceptionally good in the air,” said Hicks. “And some of his teammates have given him some wonderful balls to play.”

In the 27th, it was Munn giving one of his teammates a good ball to play. Munn, on the right, sent a cross into the box for Reed Kimbrell, who finished the play with a one-time effort into the back of the net, making it 3-0.

Lopez-Hernandez set up Southern’s first-half strike with a through-ball down the left side for Salaazar. Salaazar settled and scored far post with his left foot to put the Raiders on the board.

Munn’s third goal started on another throw-in from West four minutes into the second half. Kimbrell took West’s throw before tapping a short pass into Munn, who scored from the middle.

The Northern players sported pink socks for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, while Hicks donned a pink Vikings shirt.

Contact the writer at kholtzman@hendersondispatch.com.

“A good friend of mine started Soccer for a Cure a few years back and we typically contribute something to it,” Hicks said. “...I want to keep the guys aware that there’s stuff going on besides us playing soccer.”

Contact the writer at kholtzman@hendersondispatch.com.

Read more: [|The Daily Dispatch - Vikes storm past Raiders]