DOBSON — Things are coming together for the Surry Central girls soccer team.
The young Golden Eagles team posted back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Central defeated East Wilkes 2-0 on March 28, then topped North Wilkes 5-0 the following day. Surry Central’s mark of seven goals in those matches exceeds the amount of goals scored through its first 10 matches.
Central dominated play against North Wilkes and spent three-quarters of the match or more on offense. After struggling to find the back of the net in the first 20 minutes of play, the Golden Eagles (4-5-3) scored three times before halftime.
The first goal of the game was credited an own goal on North Wilkes. Yuri Ramirez took the second of back-to-back corner kicks in the 21st minute and sent a scorcher inside the six-yard box. The Viking keeper went to clear the ball out of North Wilkes’ defensive third, but unintentionally redirected it into the goal.
The Eagles added to the lead two minutes later on a left-footed shot from Estefany Avila. Her goal was assisted by Dafne Salgado-Perez. Ramirez made it 3-0 at halftime by finishing a cross from Ashley Santamaria in the 36th minute.
Karlie Robertson made it 4-0 with an unassisted goal in the 64th minute, and Wendy Cantor came in to score the Eagles’ final goal in the 70th minute.
“Both of those second half goals started with quality runs from the back and good passing to move the ball forward,” said Eagles coach Adan Garcia.
Garcia said the team has come a long way this season, especially the past two weeks. In addition to the wins over East and North Wilkes, Central tied Starmount and Ashe County 0-0, while falling to Forbush 3-0.
“Each of those games we were progressing,” Garcia said. “That’s what I’m looking for on this first round of conference games and with our nonconference games: progression.”
Garcia said the team’s effort against North Wilkes was a culmination of everything they’d worked on to this point.
“Those nonconference games don’t hurt our conference record, so can I feel more comfortable trying something different,” Garcia said. “That way, in case we do get into a big scenario with another team in conference or playoffs, we’ve had game experience doing that.”
Central used the games against Starmount, Ashe and East Wilkes to experiment with new formations, although this was done somewhat out of necessity with three Golden Eagle starters sidelined with injuries.
“[Former Surry Central soccer coach] Blake Roth has a lot of great quotes, and one those goes something like, ‘you’re a bad coach if you don’t mix it up,’ meaning a good coach knows how to manipulate his team to the scenario that’s going on,” Garcia said. “If I’m behind a goal with 10 minutes left, why am I still playing defensive? We’re already losing; what’s the difference between losing 2-1 or 3-1. Sometimes we need to ramp things up and push for a tie or the win depending on the situation.”
Garcia said his team has even responded well to its loss against Forbush.
“Roth would always tell me with the guys, ‘that’s what you call a good loss,” Garcia said. “We played them head on. I wasn’t playing all defensive like I was with Wilkes Central, and that was just because Wilkes Central is on another level. But Forbush, we played normal. They were very good, but we were able to get in some offense and run what we wanted to run. We just made three deadly mistakes and those cost us. We got a lot better because of that game, though.”
The win over North Wilkes is Surry Central’s first win in Foothills 2A Conference competition. The Eagles had a trial by fire to start conference play with matches against the teams that currently sit in first, second and third in the standings.
Central looks to continue its growth this season against North Surry on April 1.
