Tarboro soccer falls in the second round

Sports

November 9, 2009

Calvin Adkins

It’s over.

The Tarboro Vikings quest to become 2A state champions ended in a 1-0 nail-biting lose against East Duplin in the second round of the NCHSAA playoffs Saturday night.

“What can I say,” Vikings Coach Leshaun Jenkins. “We played a good game and we had plenty of opportunities but we just couldn’t capitalize off of them. We out shot them 25-5. We played against a great team and we were right in there with them.”

The Vikings, (19-3-1) had one of their best seasons in school history. However they lost three out of the last four games this year. They defeated Edenton 5-0 to advance to the second round before losing regular season games to Beddingfield and Roanoke Rapids.

Tarboro did manage to win the Eastern Plain Conference title for the fifth time in eight years. Eleven seniors dominated the Vikings’ roster.

“I wouldn’t be scared to put up our numbers against anybody in any sports,” Jenkins said. “The seniors were 75-13-3 over their careers. They helped put Tarboro soccer on the map. Some of the guys we obviously can’t replace. We will just fill their position and continue the Tarboro tradition that they have established.”

Senior Ricardo Arias was one of the irreplaceable seniors. Arias shattered the Vikings all-time scoring record (158 goals) by scoring 169 for his career. He also moved to second place all-time in the state.