Southern Wayne’s Daniel Velasquez clears a ball inside the 16-yard box during action against Charles B. Aycock last Wednesday. The Saints drew a No. 16 seed for the NC High School Athletic Association 3A playoffs and will host a first-round game Monday. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
DUDLEY — Southern Wayne’s seniors get one more chance to play on their home pitch.
The Saints received the No. 16 spot for the NC High School Athletic Association Class 3A boys’ soccer playoffs. They entertain 17th-seeded Franklinton Monday.
Kickoff is 6:30 p.m.
All four schools in the mountolivetribune.com coverage area advanced to the postseason.
Three-time reigning Neuse Six 2A champion Spring Creek (14-8-1) is seeded seventh and plays host to North Lenoir. James Kenan (12-5-3) welcomes St. Pauls on the 2A scene, while Carolina 1A member North Duplin (4-11-2) visits first-time playoff qualifier Jones Senior.
Second-round games are Thursday.
Southern Wayne (14-5-1 overall) carries a six-match win streak into its first-ever home playoff contest. The Saints pulled off an improbable, 4-3 double-overtime victory over Charles B. Aycock, which vaulted them three spots in the MaxPreps RPI ratings.
“We wanted to go up, get a higher seeding and we wanted to host one [game],” said senior Cesar Espinoza, who supplied the game-winning goal. “My last year here, we wanted to make it special … win. I think everyone wanted that. They were hungry for it and we made it happen.”
The Saints recorded the most regular-season victories since an 11-win campaign in 2015. Their 9-4-1 worksheet against Quad County 3A opposition easily surpassed six-win outputs recorded in conference action during the 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2022 seasons.
Directed by head coach Luis Ramirez, the Saints seek their first playoff victory since 2017 — a 3-1 decision at Southern Nash. According to NCHSAA records, Southern Wayne is 4-8 all-time in eight postseason trips.
Spring Creek is making its 21st playoff appearance in program history. The Gators have reached the third round each of the past two seasons, including a 2-1 loss to eventual state runner-up Clinton last fall.
Head coach Miguel Torres said communication, energy and grit allowed his team to post a 10-0-1 worksheet in its last 11 games after going 4-8-0 in non-conference action.
“Hopefully these guys playing a lot together, we’re a small senior group and we’ve got a big junior class that we’re letting them play together, get that chemistry and flow of the game,” Torres said. “So, now we know the pressure is on the deeper you play into October and November [in the playoffs].”
North Duplin’s six seniors — Jose Gonzalez, Henry Gonzalez, Nilmar Cabrera, Amari Hill, Danny Velasquez and Crismy Gonzalez-Vazquez — look to improve upon last year’s second-round trip to the playoffs.
A returning all-Carolina performer, Gonzalez-Vazquez leads the team in goals scored (14), assists (three) and total points (31).
Sophomore goalie Isaias Santos Santander has logged 227 saves in 1,293 minutes between the pipes this season. He has three clean sheets (shutouts) on his worksheet.
Kenan emerged as the East Central 2A runner-up to county rival Wallace-Rose Hill. The Tigers are 7-1-2 in their last nine games — the lone loss coming in the regular-season finale against W-RH.
