Written by Laieke Abebe

Rosewood was in control for the first 75 minutes of its soccer match against North Lenoir. However, the Eagles were unable to hang onto their lead.

Despite leading 2-0 with five minutes to go, the Eagles surrendered two goals in the final five minutes and drew 2-2 with the visiting Hawks. Rosewood won its first meeting with North Lenoir, 2-0 last week but couldn’t complete the season sweep.

“We have to be more consistent,” Rosewood head coach Eddie Maldonado said. “Every time we step on the field, we have to play at a high level no matter who the opponent is. Hats off to North Lenoir for continuing to fight until the final whistle.”

The Eagles (2-0-1) scored with 19 minutes left in the first half thanks to a strike from Hector Gutierrez. Then, the Eagles added their second with 15 minutes left in the contest when Aaron Zamora found his way through the Hawks’ backline.

However, the Hawks (0-2-1) started to build momentum in the last 10 minutes. Then, the Hawks found their goal to get back in the match. Midfielder Jesus Tyndall picked up a loose ball at the top of the box and fired a strike past the goalkeeper to make it 2-1.

With under five minutes to go, the Hawks put pressure on Rosewood to hang onto its lead, but in the end, the Hawks preserved to even the score. 

Two minutes after Tyndall’s goal, the Hawks got a throw-in near the corner flag. Forward Lionel Gomez would force a Rosewood own goal. Gomez forced a deflection off a header to tie the game with three minutes remaining. 

Both teams had chances in the final two minutes to get the win, but it ended in a stalemate. However, the visiting Hawks were the happier of the two teams getting their first result of the season. 

“The good thing is that we’re back at it Wednesday,” Maldonado added. “We’ve got an opportunity to show that we can play a complete 80 minutes. That’s what we have to do to be a successful team this season.”

Rosewood travels to face Eastern Wayne Wednesday for an in-county matchup.