Jaguars blanked by Whiteville

FARMVILLE — The Farmville Central boys' soccer team picked the wrong match to get shut out.

The Jaguars didn't manage a goal in a 1-0 loss to Whiteville in the first round of the 2-A state playoffs on Wednesday, marking the first time the Jags (14-6-1) didn't score in a game all season.

“We had been missing the easy shots all season and I told our players that it would come back to haunt us,” FC coach Jeff Polanski said of his team's offense on Wednesday. “We were going to come up against a team like this and it was going to bite us, and it did.”

Whiteville (19-9-3) didn't have much offense either, but its defense paved the way for a victory.

The Wolfpack scored the game's only goal during a scrum in front of the net in the first half. The ball was crossed by Whiteville's Matt Murray and caromed off diving Farmville Central goalie Bernie Garcia before Brett Council corralled the rebound and kicked it into the net for the surprising goal.

The goal caught many people off guard, including Polanski.

“I didn't even see it because I was putting in a substitution, but I looked up and saw that they had scored,” Polanski said of the goal. “I turned around and asked, ‘Where did that come from?'”

The Jaguars didn't have many scoring chances, and none were closer than Tyler Owens' shot near the end of the match. Owens received a pass at the edge of the goalie box and blasted it toward the net with about 17 minutes remaining, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced over the goal.

FC's Archer Bane also had a chance to score on a free kick from outside the box early in the match. Miguel Garcia had a scoring chance early in the second half, but his shot sailed left of the goal.

Despite the loss, Polanski said he was proud of his team's season, which included an Eastern Plains Conference tournament championship.

“We had a great season and even had the opportunity to win this game,” he said. “It's a shame that we had to send the seniors out like this because I really thought we could have made a run. We just picked a bad night to throw a shutout.”

Contact Ronnie Woodward at rwoodward@reflector.com or (252) 329-9592.