Bad Links?
Other glitches?
Notify Webmaster

FCHS squads lose tight playoff games

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayette County High’s boys and girls soccer teams lost bitterly close matches to end their season at Glynn Academy Tuesday night.

The Lady Tigers were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, and no one scored in two overtime periods. So, the game came down to penalty kicks. Glynn Academy put in three kicks, and Fayette put in two, so Glynn was declared the victor.

Coach Ben Thacker, who guided both the boys and girls squads, said the Lady Tigers dominated the second half after being down 1-0 at halftime. Alex Bennett scored the game-tying goal with about 10 minutes left in the game, off an assist by Jordan Brown.

There were several chances to get the ball in the net before the end of regulation, but Fayette couldn’t capitalize, Thacker noted.

The Lady Tigers’ conditioning even received a compliment from the opposing coach, who passed by the Fayette bench while assisting one of his injured players from the field, Thacker said.

“He said, ‘What is with your girls? They keep running. They’re running like gazelles,’” Thacker recalled, adding that the comment came late in the match.

“I was very proud of the way they played. They never quit,” Thacker added.

Thacker added that he was proud the girls returned to the playoffs this year, and it took some teammates playing out of position “to put the best players out there on the field,” he said.

The loss was heartbreaking for the girls, and Thacker still thinks they should have won the game.

Thacker said the senior leadership really came through for the Lady Tigers. The whole team stepped up and played hard, he added.

“They never quit,” Thacker said.

The boys squad fell 3-2 though they rallied back from an initial 2-0 deficit. Glynn Academy scored one of its goals after a foul call that Thacker took serious issue with.

“It was a ridiculous call, but you know you’ve got to play through that,” Thacker said.

The same type of play was occurring on Fayette’s end of the field, but the officials weren’t making the call then, Thacker said. Despite that, however, the Tigers had a chance to win with a dominant second half showing, but they couldn’t follow through.

Down 2-0, the Tigers’ first goal came on a 35-to-40-yard shot from Ryan Whitehead which caught Glynn Academy’s keeper by surprise, Thacker noted.

“It was just a laser beam,” Thacker said.

Whitehead scored again with 26 minutes left in the game to make it 3-2, but that was all Fayette could muster scoring-wise as Glynn Academy loaded up extra players on defense to protect its lead, Thacker noted.

The game was quite physical, Thacker added.

Thacker said he was proud of the team, which was quite young this year thanks to several sophomores and freshmen who started and played key roles, which “bodes well for next year.” He looks forward to working with the team again next year, and getting them to hit the weight room to be better conditioned.

“You’ve got to be able to protect the ball and yourself,” Thacker said.