Photo and article from Laieke Abebe

Southern Wayne soaked up the pressure in the second half but could not keep the deadlock intact.

The Saints gave up a goal with less than a minute left in the game and fell, 2-1 to Fike in Quad County 3A Conference soccer action on Wednesday. 24 seconds away from overtime, the Demons turned in a late scoring chance that Southern Wayne couldn’t keep out of the net.

“It’s a tough loss, but I’m proud of my teams’ effort,” Southern Wayne head coach Luis Ramirez said after the game. “I have no complaints about my boys because they grinded out 80 minutes against a really good team.”

Southern Wayne started off on the front foot thanks to a half-volley strike from junior Edgar Castaneda to open the scoring. The Saints (6-3, 2-3) led throughout the first half until the Demons (8-1-1, 5-0) found their equalizer.

Taylor Sullivan headed in the tying goal off a corner kick to make it 1-1 with 15 minutes left in the first half. Fike took control throughout the second half and had multiple chances that the Demons couldn’t put away.

That was until the Saints lost possession in their defensive third in the final minute of regulation, which turned into an advantage for Fike. Ultimately, a cross by Isaac Puente-Castro found Dylan Skinner at the top of the six-yard box who tapped it past the goalkeeper for the winning goal with 24 seconds left.

“It’s tough to concede a goal like that,” Ramirez added. “We have to be more disciplined in defense and get more chances going forward. In conference play, games get more difficult, so we have to regroup and prepare for C.B. Aycock on Monday.”

The Saints travel to Pikeville to face the Golden Falcons on Monday. C.B. Aycock is coming off of its first conference loss after dropping a 3-1 result to Smithfield-Selma Wednesday.