East Bladen Soccer Battles to 3-3 Draw at Hoke County in Season Opener

Tyler Eason, 2024. Photo by LR Mixes. 📸

RAEFORD, NC — In sweltering August heat and humidity, East Bladen’s boys soccer team opened their season Tuesday night with an encouraging 3-3 draw at Hoke County. It was a night of early fireworks, hard lessons, and gritty resilience for a squad blending young talent with returning experience.

The Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to Tevin McClean, who found the net twice in the span of 14 minutes. His first came in the 16th minute off a well-placed feed from Jayce Hatcher, and his second in the 30th minute was set up by Fox Sutton.

But momentum can shift quickly in soccer — and it did. Hoke County struck twice in just 38 seconds in the 36th minute, both goals coming on nearly identical plays straight through the middle.

“That showed our inexperience,” Head Coach Jay Raynor admitted. “Mentality-wise, that can’t happen. However, the guys didn’t hang their heads and didn’t let up.”

Halftime came with the score level at 2-2, but East Bladen struck again just six minutes into the second half. Ishaq Algozy played a “gorgeous switch,” as Raynor described it, finding Andrio Garcia 40 yards from goal.

Garcia used his strength to hold off a defender, went 1-on-1 with the keeper, and finished low into the far side netting to put the Eagles back in front.

Hoke County tied the match in the 70th minute on a free kick bent around the wall.

With JD McArthur already on a yellow card, Raynor shifted pieces to protect the result.

The Eagles dug in over the final minutes, playing for the tie and holding off a late push from the home side.

Sutton, who also tallied an assist, made 10 saves on the night — including a fingertip deflection on a corner kick to preserve the draw.

“To come over here and play against a school with those numbers and that talent says a lot about our guys,” Raynor said. “Last year it was a 0-3 result. Tonight it was 3-3 and we had chances to win it.”

Raynor praised the work rate of McClean, McArthur, Algozy, and Garcia, all of whom went the full 80 minutes in the heat. Hatcher and Easton Bostic anchored the back line with smart, athletic play, while Tyler Eason and Damian Sanchez provided strong efforts on the wings.

“We grew into the game plan and trapped and pressed the pockets we needed to,” Raynor said. “We let them have the ball and tucked in. I thought our guys executed from the first whistle. We got a little tired and allowed the ball to switch a few times when we shouldn’t, but I’m proud of how we played. The guys are working hard. Extremely pleased with their growth so far.”

The Eagles start the year 0-0-1 and will look to build on Tuesday’s performance as they continue their nonconference slate when traveling to Clinton on Monday.

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East Bladen Soccer Battles to 3-3 Draw at Hoke County in Season Opener