PITTSBORO — On a slick, wet field, Seaforth girls’ soccer team rolled to its third straight Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference win Thursday, dominating Cummings at home, 9-0.
“Everyone performed well,” head coach Giovanni Viana said. “They stuck to the game plan. They did what we talked about with regards to moving the ball. On a sloppy, wet field, we wanted to avoid injury, so as long as we kept the ball moving, things worked out.”
The Hawks controlled possession early on and wasted no time attacking the net as sophomore Luisa Olmos broke free and scored the first goal just four minutes into the game.
With 30 minutes and 42 seconds left to play in the first half, sophomore Sofia Viana got going with her first goal of the night, which came from close range. Thirty seconds later, she converted again to give the Hawks an early 3-0 lead.
Sophomore Regan Willauer kicked in the Hawks’ fourth goal less than two minutes later, and with 27 minutes remaining in the opening half, junior Emma O’Rourke assisted on Olmos’ second score of the night to give Seaforth a 5-0 lead.
With the game getting out of reach for Cummings, Seaforth head coach Giovanni Viana gave his junior varsity unit some playing time on the pitch. Although they only achieved one goal from freshman Laurin Jackson before halftime, the younger group kept Cummings scoreless, setting up what would be a quick second half.
“We don’t have a lot of depth on varsity, so we’re going to have to get some JV girls to step up,” Viana said. “(Thursday) was a good day to get those JV girls experience. Overall, it was positive, (and) everyone got a lot of playing time.”
In the second half, Seaforth continued to deny Cummings any significant advances on the goal. The Hawks didn’t rush to end the game, taking just under six minutes to get the offense back in the scoring groove.
At the 34:29 mark, Viana completed the hat trick to put the Hawks up, 7-0. Twenty seconds later, junior Caitlin Erman’s seventh goal of the season grew the Seaforth lead to eight.
With just under 30 minutes left to play, Viana ended the game with her fourth goal of the night, sending Seaforth into spring break with a mercy rule victory.
Viana scored more than three goals for the fourth time in her career and the second time this season, scoring four times in a 9-0 victory against Graham on March 13.
“We knew that (Cummings) was going to be physical, and they were going to give their best playing against us,” Sofia Viana said. “So, we knew that we had to move the ball quick, so we didn’t make it overly physical.”
Seaforth is the team to beat in the Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference, outscoring conference opponents 22-0 so far. The Hawks went 3-1 without starting goalie Katie Leonard, who was still playing basketball in the beginning of the season, and since losing their only game of the year to Western Alamance on March 11, they’ve won four games in a row.
“We said that everything we do is to win the conference and prepare for playoffs,” Giovanni Viana said. “So, the game plan stays the same. There are two or three things we are trying to perfect that we believe once we get into the playoffs will help us go all the way…It’s to not make the game physical, to let the ball move (and) to look to exploit quick switches at the point of attack.”
