The Union High Spartans were among the five teams in Sampson County to host a first round state playoff game. On Tuesday night, first on their list were the Tarboro Vikings. The home team started their first round in a strong display with a 7-O victory over their visitors.
Round 1
Union applied immediate heat in the first minute, finding the net just 44 seconds in before the attempt was waived off for offsides. They continued firing from every angle, controlling possession and stacking shot after shot on Tarboro keeper Jayden Armfield, who was forced into multiple early stops.
The Spartan breakthrough came after quality service from one of Union’s wings. A perfect cross into the box allowed junior striker, Kevin Luna, to finish with a header for the first official goal of the night. From there, Union followed with waves of attacks that gave Tarboro very little room to settle or build anything up field.
Tarboro’s first real look came at the 16:10 mark when Jamarion Dickens sent a shot towards the frame, but Union keeper Marcelo Rivas handled it cleanly. Tarboro followed with another attempt shortly after, but the Spartans countered with midfielder Jose Discua ripping a shot that Armfield swallowed. Noe Discua returned minutes later and buried one into the lower left corner at 11:23 for a 2-0 lead.
Union struck again quickly as Spartan Roco Esparza broke away through defenders and tucked another into the same left lower pocket to push the lead to 3-0.
Before halftime, Union’s Carlos Suazo nearly made it four with a beautiful bending attempt toward the upper shelf, but Armfield rose up for a highlight save. One last Union attempt in the closing seconds was also denied, sending the Spartans into halftime up 3-0.
Union kept on pressing early in the second half. Kevin Luna saw another early shot on frame and Esparza followed on a rebound and was shut down once again. Esparza eventually finished again, knocking home a header at the 32:45 mark for Union’s 4-0 advantage. Moments later he ripped a long range shot from the right side to go up 5-0, continuing to stretch Tarboro’s defense thinner as the Spartans accelerated.
Luna added his second scoring strike at the 24:00 mark that pushed the lead to 6-0. Tarboro’s Dickens later received a yellow card at the 19-minute mark, likely out of frustration as Union continued to overwhelm possession and deny touches. Union’s head coach Evert Cruz then rotated his second unit and the fresh legs kept attacking. Union’s Pedro Vega put the final cap at the 9:45 mark for the seventh and final goal.
Rivas finished the night with a full playoff clean sheet.
Luna, who recorded a hat trick, said he woke up feeling confident in what this night could become.
“Honestly, when I woke up, I knew that I had a feeling that we was gonna pass around and we was gonna win,” Luna said. “From the beginning, I felt really confident of us winning. I just want to thank my coach Coach Cruz, my assistant coach Coach Westford, and my whole team; the captains, everybody…I am just really happy that we won. It is a team at first. It is not just me, it is the whole team. I am really proud that we won and hopefully we make it far in the States.”
Luna says the energy will not change moving forward.
“I feel like I will keep the same energy. I feel like I will keep the same momentum of scoring in every game, helping my teammates out, communicating with everybody and the coaches, and scoring more goals. Hopefully we win and make it through.”
Cruz said the players fully understood the magnitude and responsibility of hosting a playoff match at home.
“We talked about the importance of having a home game and doing it for our school and doing it for our family and friends here at home. We talked about the importance of it and just motivated them to bring the A game,” Cruz said. “When you play a playoff game, they do not hand you those wins. You really got to earn it.”
Cruz said Union intentionally treated Tarboro solely by their capability, not by their record.
“We did not look at the record. We looked at them as a team,” Cruz said. “They really have some stiff competitions. They play city and big scores. They are in the 3A conference so you could not read that. We said we have to go in there and take care of business. We cannot look past it without taking care of this and that is what we did.”
Looking ahead to Round 2, Cruz says it comes down simply to will.
“If you bring it, I do not see why it cannot be theirs, if they bring the A game,” Cruz said. “They have the heart and we got the talent, but they have to bring the A game.”
Round 2
Union traveled for the second round and fell 3-1 to Research Triangle in the state playoffs. Cruz said the result came down to exactly what he warned his team could happen.
“I said that we can’t make a mistake because they are gonna capitalize, and that is exactly what happened,” Cruz said. “We made a few mistakes and the other team capitalized, but you know it does not take away from the great season that we had here at Union. It just did not go our way last night.”
Cruz said the Spartans never backed down despite the mismatch narrative many framed before the match.
“We went in there and we quickly found out that the team was not the giant that we thought it was. We found out that we were in the game, but it was one of those games where a few mistakes and they got over. We motivated them to believe in themselves, and they were ready. They were competitive, and no one left out until the end. Even though they have all the resources down there in Raleigh in the triangle, we remembered to be competitive, and we are still competitors being in a small school in Sampson County.”
Looking ahead, Cruz says this season built vision.
“Since we have most of the team coming back, I think the most important thing is the vision. They can see it now. They can see how we can go further. We got a chance to see that we can actually do something. It is not out of our reach. The team now has a vision of what we can do, and if we avoid mistakes and take it a little more seriously, we actually can be a contender.”