Sturdy defense keeps Brooks County out of goal against Bainbridge
Published 9:35 am Monday, April 22, 2019
The Bainbridge High School soccer team defeated the Brooks County High School Trojans in decisive fashion by a score of 6-0 in Quitman on Tuesday, April 16th.
The Trojans opened up the match with several defenders positioned behind the ball to make scoring as difficult as possible for the Bearcats. The Bearcats dominated possession from the start, and as they possessed the ball, they opened up passing space to create opportunities on goal.
The first opportunity that was capitalized upon was in the 6th minute when Mason Ard scored on a high arching shot that dropped into the goal right under the crossbar and right over the hands of the Brooks County keeper. Caleb Harris extended the lead to 2-0 when he scored in the 16th minute of play after taking an assist from Mason Ard. The lead was increased to 3-0 in the 26th minute when Cesar Chiguil converted a penalty kick opportunity following a Brooks County hand ball call in the penalty area.
The Bearcats went to the locker room at half-time with a most comfortable 3-0 lead. It did not take the team long to get the goals coming in the second half, either. Angel Munoz scored the opening goal of the second half (assist to Caleb Harris) in the 41st minute to make the scoreline 4-0. Caleb Harris struck for another goal in the 50th minute after taking an assist from Cesar Chiguil to extend the Bearcat lead to 5-0. Finally, in the 75th minute, Stokes Moore scored the final goal of the match (and his first goal of the season) to give the Bearcats a 6-0 victory.
The Trojans came out with a very defensive strategy as they stationed numerous defenders between the midfield stripe and the top of the penalty box in an effort to close space needed to pass the ball and to shoot from dangerous areas. Their ultimate goal was to keep the Bearcats from scoring and running away with the game early on. They intended to shorten the game by keeping within striking distance by playing so many defenders behind the ball so that they could either catch Bainbridge players pushed too far forward to catch them on a counter-attack or to strike for a late goal late in the match to win it.
When Bainbridge was able to score twice withing the first twenty minutes, that strategy kind of went out the window because the Trojans were then forced to chase the game. Meaning, they had to try to score goals, which opened them up to be scored on more frequently as they pushed more players forward to try to attack the Bearcat goal.
Bryce Jones, Alex Soden, Collin Morrison, Tom Emmons, Matt Hall, and the goal keeper combination of Bryce Jones, Arkevious Marshall, and Daniel Victor were played very well on the evening as they led the way to preserving a clean sheet. Nix McIntosh and Joe Emmons did great work winning balls and keeping it moving in possession in order to make goal scoring possible. All players on the roster received meaningful playing time as well, which is important as they look to gain needed experience for matches to come in their varsity futures. Tristan Brannan, Alfredo Rodriguez, Jesus Sanchez, Kendall Glover, Adam Pascual, Luke Emmons, Jose Avalo, Aiden Matthews, Ashton Matthews, Juan Escamilla, and Garrett Sigman all saw playing time on the evening.
With the victory, the Bearcats are assured of a winning record for the season, which is one of the goals that was set at the beginning of the season.