The Bainbridge High School Bearcat soccer team defeated the Dothan High School Tigers in Dothan on Tuesday, March 19th by a score of 3-2.

The Bearcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 7th minute following a goal by Mason Ard.  He was assisted by Joe Emmons on the goal.  The lead was extended to 2-0 in the 10th minute when Ard took a pass from Nix McIntosh and scored for the second time.  In the 26th minute, the lead grew to 3-0 when Cesar Chiguil scored.  The Bearcats took a comfortable 3-0 lead to half-time.  In the second half, the Bearcats had many opportunities to score, but did not convert.  The lead remained 3-0 until the 68th minute when Dothan scored to cut the lead to 3-1.  In the 70th minute, Dothan pulled back another goal, and the Bearcats looked vulnerable to give up what was once a very comfortable advantage.  However, the team managed to hold on and hunker down to survive the comeback attempt to preserve the 3-2 victory.

“While we played well for most of the match possessing the ball and troubling the Dothan goalkeeper, we were also lax at times defensively. We gave up more shooting opportunities than we should several times.  We managed to escape unscathed for much of the match, but in the closing twelve minutes, it caught up to us.  We really had to hold on for this victory, when it should have been a sure thing had we just converted our missed opportunities and maintained focus and form defensively.  Our struggle as a team continues to be putting together a full eighty minutes of quality play.  If we can ever play a full match with the quality that is needed rather than half of a match or three quarters of a match, then we will win in dominant fashion.”

It was encouraging to see Mason Ard looking threatening in this match, and the support from Nix McIntosh, Joe Emmons, and Cesar Chiguil was also quality.  Stokes Moore and Angel Munoz also played well overall during this match, and they looked to be a threat to score or to set up scoring opportunities several times during the contest.  Arkeavious Marshall also made six saves playing keeper on the evening.