Southern Wayne played hard for 80 minutes, but its efforts were not enough against West Johnston in Quad County 3A Conference action on Thursday afternoon.
The Wildcats scored three goals in the second half and clinched a 4-0 victory against Southern Wayne.
“Overall, we were playing collectively, but it just wasn’t going our way,” Southern Wayne head coach Luis Ramirez said.
Most of the first half was a back-and-forth affair, and both teams could not find the back of the net.
However, that all changed in the 34th minute.
After a Saints’ foul inside the box, West Johnston’s Chris Cardenas converted the penalty kick, and the Saints went into halftime down 1-0.
“I think, for the most part, we were pretty even regardless of the penalty,” Ramirez said.
The Saints started the second half looking to tie the game, but in the 44th minute, Ryan Flegel launched a shot that sailed over the Southern Wayne goalie’s hands to give West Johnston a 2-0 lead.
After the Wildcats scored their second goal, the Saints could not find many shots on goal as the Wildcats increased their lead to 3-0 in the 55th minute.
Ryan McClymonds scored the Wildcats’ fourth goal in the 66th minute.
Despite the loss snapping the Saints’ five-game win streak, Ramirez is confident the Saints will rebound from the loss and continue to have a strong season.
Southern Wayne (5-1 overall, 0-1) travels to Hunt (0-5-2, 0-2) on Monday.
“I hate losing, but in the end, we know it’s part of the game. I told everybody to pick their heads up, and it’s a long season,” Ramirez said.
