SILER CITY — The Jordan-Matthews men’s soccer team whooped an outmanned East Bladen in a 9-0 whitewash that boiled into a chippy, bench-clearing confrontation in the waning minutes Thursday night.
With the win, the unbeaten Jets now advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs.
The No. 6 seed Jets (19-0-1) will face a more formidable test Monday when they travel to Durham to put their undefeated season on the line against No. 3 seed N.C. School of Science and Math (15-1-1), the Super Six Conference champions. Jordan-Matthews is on an 18-game winning streak; NCSSM has won 12 straight. The Jets have outscored opponents 121-10; the Unicorns hold a 108-9 scoring advantage.
Juan Soto Hernandez, a junior striker, set the feverish pace for the Jets in teeth-chattering, 42-degree temperatures Thursday, stinging the net with four goals. Zander Ocampo, a junior striker, knocked in a pair of goals. Alexis Ibarra, a senior midfielder and team co-captain, brother Francisco Ibarra, a freshman striker, and Irvin Campos, a senior midfielder, each chipped in a goal.
Jets junior goalkeeper and team co-captain Ricardo Rocha was flawless in the net, though the Eagles struggled to encroach on the Jordan-Matthews side of the field, and had painfully few scoring opportunities. It was the 10th shutout win of the year for Jordan-Matthews.
East Bladen goalkeeper Lee Barnes, a sophomore with six shutouts and 127 saves on the season, was no match for the Jets’ swarming attacks. Junior midfielder Malcolm Bolden, the Eagles’ premier scoring menace with six hat tricks on the season and 27 of the team’s 41 total goals, was a nonfactor.
The Jets’ game plan included containing Bolden, though they remained wary entering the second half with a 3-0 lead, knowing that Bolden had the tools to tighten the score in a hurry, Jets coach Paul Cuadros said.
“He’s a gifted player, a gifted athlete, so we tried to show maximum respect to him,” Cuadros said after the game. “We did not man-mark him, but we were aware of him at all times. What we really wanted to do was win the middle so that no balls could get to him.”
Meanwhile, the Jets demonstrated superior footwork, speed, touches, ball control and pressure from start to finish. But it was the second half that demoralized the Eagles as time and hopes slipped away.
“Once this team really gets fired up and ignited they really want to go. And they’ll go at you. That’s their style,” and it was on full display in the second half five-goal barrage, Cuadros said. Hernandez, as he has done in previous games, assumed a key role.
“He’s really coming into his own this year. He’s finding his athleticism and size on the field, and how much of a difference that can be in terms of his play,” Cuadros said. “We’re seeing a kid who’s really blossoming and can play at another level beyond high school.”
Ocampo and junior Paul Lujan complement Hernandez at the top, and his junior-laden team is finding ways to move and attack, Cuadros said.
“We want to be multi-dimensional in the way we attack,” Cuadros said of his five players with goals. “Everyone spread the ball around and looked for opportunities.”
Hernandez's four goals contributed to his watershed moment of the season, having had one hat trick previously.
“I took a look at the defense to see how they played. I was looking where their goalkeeper was positioned and let it rip,” Hernandez said of his relentless shots on goal. “I put pressure on them. It was pure excitement.”
Hernandez was surprised by the bulging margin of victory, but the team has a special motivation to excel — it’s their coach’s 20th anniversary season and they want to deliver something special for him, he said.
“We have very good players, and very good potential, and we’re just here to win,” Hernandez said.
It was Ocampo who first lit the scoreboard. He took a pass from Alexis Ibarra in the 19th minute and drilled the ball into the right corner, leaving Barnes helplessly out of reach for a 1-0 lead.
Hernandez displayed skilled footwork and from 10 yards out booted the ball high into the left corner of the net, careening off of Barnes’ outstretched hands, to make it 2-0 in the 23rd minute.
Alexis Ibarra took a short crossing pass from Ocampo and slammed the ball into the right side of the net past Barnes’ kick-save attempt to close the first half, scoring in the 36th minute.
Hernandez notched his second goal with just 29 seconds ticked off of the second-half clock. Jair Ruiz’s shot on goal was blocked, Soto fielded the rebound and stuck a bounding kick into the net to give the Jets a 4-0 lead. Less than four minutes later, Hernandez solidified the hat trick. With the goalkeeper drawn out of the net, Hernandez punched it into the left side in the 45th minute.
It took another five minutes for Hernandez to boot in his fourth goal on the clock, freezing the hapless goalkeeper out of position, who was unable to defend the shot.
Campos uncorked a sizzling line drive diagonally into the net from about 25 yards out, pushing the score to 7-0 in the 53rd minute.
Ocampo took an inbound pass from junior Armando Rocha, dribbled and fired a precision kick into the left side of the net, past the diving goalkeeper, for his second goal of the game in the 64th minute.
But in the 77th minute, with the game almost finished as the Jets had a controlling 8-0 lead, tempers flared among the frustrated Eagles and benches emptied, leading to a harmless scrum, extended time out and led to an eventual red card to an East Bladen player.
The Jets were unfazed and in the final minute of the game, Francisco Ibarra took an inbound kick from Lujan and popped in a header to punctuate the 9-0 win, after which the referees halted play due to the nine-goal mercy rule.