CHOCOWINITY — Southside coach Jay Petty told his team that it played about 70 minutes of solid soccer Thursday against 2-A non-conference foe South Lenoir.

The visiting Blue Devils owned possession throughout, though. It made it tough for the Seahawks to mount consistent offense. It took two breaks down the stretch en route to a 2-0 win. It marks their eighth win in their last 10 games, propelling them into Monday’s 1-A Coastal Plains Conference opener against Tarboro.

“We were out-possessed tonight. I feel like they possessed the ball a little bit better than us,” Petty said. “I’d say about 60-40. They did keep possession quite a bit. We’ve been working and practicing on possession and building our plays and passing out of the back.

“For the boys to continually keep working at it and continue trying to improve on it … It just speaks to their heart and their attitude. They just want to get better.”

Jairo Juarez broke through after 65 minutes of scoreless action and minimal scoring chances for Southside. Santiago Serralde weaved a pass through South Lenoir’s backline and Juarez was able to use his speed to chase it down for a one-on-one chance with the opposing keeper.

“I told them at halftime that we have to pick up on possession and get our connecting passes a little better,” Petty said. “We struggled a little bit in the second half, but we turned it around and got it together. They’re good about finding the first pass and the second pass. They have to start thinking about the third and fourth pass.”

It appeared South Lenoir drew even with five minutes left, but the goal was waived off after a foul called on a 50-50 ball.

Instead, it was the Seahawks that struck again with just a few minutes to play. Senior Javier Mondragon ripped a shot on a free kick. A poor read by the Blue Devil keeper allowed the ball to bounce right over him and into the net, giving the home side a 2-0 lead with two minutes to play.

“You give up set pieces and you get hurt like South Lenoir did here,” Petty said. “The one time they gave up one and we capitalized on it. It was a great shot from Javier.”

Johan Prado earned the clean sheet despite a handful of close calls. The defense in front of him helped to minimize chances against, and he made all the plays he needed to.