By Andrew Millaway
Sports Correspondent

Elkin’s boys soccer team grinded out a 3-1 victory against rival East Wilkes on Tuesday night in what turned out to be a physical match.

The Buckin’ Elks came out hot, scoring goals in the fourth and eighth minutes.

Cuauhtli Lozada struck first for the Elks, with an assist from Ryan Grider. Grider then scored the next goal four minutes later.

East Wilkes managed to cut the score in half with 20 minutes left to play with a goal by Jarred Cornette. While the Cardinals were able to dictate tempo much of the rest of the half, they weren’t able to tie the score.

“East controlled the momemtum in the first half.” Elkin coach Joe McCulloch after the match.

Elkin started gaining it back in the second half. Joey Shaffer added the final goal of the night in the fourth minute.

The Elks would continue to control the tempo but would be unable to score because of the strong defense of the Cardinals, led by Garrett Holbrook. East Wilkes only had two shots in the second half.

“I am disappointed but we played well,” Cardinals coach Kathryn Murchison said.

Elkin improved to 4-1 overall with the victory. More importantly McCulloch’s team started conference play on a winning note.

“We played much stronger in the second half,” McCulloch said. “East Wilkes played good defense. Garrett Holbrook really kept things going for them. I am pleased to come away with a win.”

Elkin will play at Ashe County on Thursday night. East Wilkes (0-4, 0-1 MVAC) will host Starmount on Thursday, and then will play county rivals West Wilkes and North Wilkes next week.


SURRY CENTRAL 6, MOUNT AIRY 1: The Golden Eagles remained unbeaten (5-0, 1-0 NW) with Tuesday night’s win over their county rival.

Antonio Talavera, Edwin Alonso, Bernardo Leandro and Manuel Montero also found the net for the home team. The Granite Bears’ goal came from Chase Pilcher in the first 30 seconds of the match.

Surry Central beat East Wilkes 4-1 in a non-conference match on Monday. So far, the Golden Eagles (5-0, 1-0 Northwest) have outscored their foes 23-3.


FORBUSH 8, STARMOUNT 1: The newly anointed No. 1 team in the state (from a N.C. Soccer Coaches Association poll) overcame a fiesty Rams squad in Boonville on Tuesday.

Forbush’s Javier Guadarrama scored in the game’s first minute. The second goal took awhile, coming late in the first half, but the floodgates seemed to open after that. The Falcons notched five goals after intermission.

This was the conference opener for both teams.