North Lenoir falls to Washington at Barnet Park
North Lenoir’s Taiwan Hines looks to control the ball with Washington’s Cody Pinkham defending during Monday’s contest at Barnet Park. Photo by William “Bud” Hardy / Neuse News
North Lenoir looked to get revenge Monday from a loss to Washington six days prior.
Although the Hawks fell to the Pam Pack 4-0, North Lenoir coach Chris Evans said there were some positive takeaways. Washington (10-4, 5-1 Eastern Carolina Conference) defeated North Lenoir 8-2 at home, but the Hawks played strong defense in the rematch at Barnet Park, forcing a scoreless first half.
The game was played at Barnet Park due to the field at The Swamp still under construction due to the destruction of Hurricane Florence.
“In the second half, they wore us down a bit and we had a couple of breakdowns on corners, which can happen when we’re substituting fresh bodies in,” Evans said. “Once Washington got on a roll, they’re a tough team to beat, but I was truly proud of our guys. They didn’t give up after nearly two and a half weeks of inactivity, playing one game and then going up against this team. We’ve got some things to work on, but they continued to fight.”
Washington scored its goals in a 25-minute span, with a balanced scoring effort. Jarod Espinoza, Dawson Cox, Tim Anglim and Oscar Espinoza had goals for the Pam Pack, while Parker Graham recorded two assists. Patrick Lovenberg and Mike Reid would also add assists in the spree.
Pam Pack coach Jim Kozuch said North Lenoir (8-3-1, 2-2) certainly didn’t make it an easy contest.
“They did a great job and I think we were just able to tire them out in the second half,” Kozuch said. “They’ve got a great team, a great coach and the (ECC) Player of the Year (in Taiwan Hines) so we knew it was going to be a battle.”
The next game for North Lenoir will be just as tough with Greene Central on the schedule Wednesday. The Rams gave the Pam Pack their only conference loss of the season, edging them out 5-4 on Sept. 25.
“Our chemistry has been off a little bit because of the hurricane, but we’ve got to get prepared for another tough opponent,” Evans said. “Greene Central certainly won’t make it easy for us.”
The game will be played at Barnet Park at 6 p.m.
