BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
PHENIX CITY — Facing a blustery, unseasonably cold Thursday night in Phenix City, the Auburn High School girls’ and boys’ soccer teams looked to notch another regional victory over Central High School.
They did just that as the Lady Tigers walloped the Lady Red Devils 10-0 and the Tigers rescued victory from the jaws of a draw with a thrilling last-second 3-2 win over the Red Devils on March 20.
Following the victory, the Lady Tigers are now 9-2 while the Lady Red Devils fall to 3-9-1. The Tigers also improve to 5-5-1, and the Red Devils must regroup with a 9-4-1 record.
With heavy winds posing an ever-present threat, CHS began the girls’ match with the ball. While the Lady Red Devils attempted to threaten the Lady Tigers early on, AHS did not take long to wrestle away control of the game for good.
Lulabelle Hammer began the scoring onslaught two minutes and 43 seconds after the opening kick. With a group of her defenders crowded around the goal, CHS goalkeeper McKenzie Ashford didn’t see the low, turf-skimming shot from the edge of the box until it was already well past her.
Having gained a scoring advantage, the Lady Tigers began dominating possession in Central’s half of the field.
Abigail Counts then opened her account four minutes later after taking the ball up the left wing, outpacing the Lady Red Devils’ defense and placing the ball wide in the top left corner.
Up 2-0, AHS continued applying the pressure with several good chances but couldn’t capitalize. That was until the 29-minute mark when Camilla Bosman notched the first of her two consecutive goals with an opportunistic finish in the box after the CHS defense failed to clear the ball despite heading and kicking it several times.
It would take Camilla Bosman less than five minutes to record a brace, scoring from point black range near the left post after Claire Nappier’s low cross made it all the way through the box from the right wing.
With the Lady Tigers now cruising toward an easy victory, Laila Simmons added to the Lady Red Devils’ pain six minutes later with a towering header at the back post from Ryan Ferguson’s looping corner.
After adding their fifth goal, the Lady Tigers then went on, by their standards, a nearly 14-minute scoring drought.
Allison Cobb then ended that ‘drought’ with 4:47 left before halftime by scoring a beautiful curling shot from outside the box that just went under the crossbar. The Central keeper had no chance.
Several minutes later, the Lady Tigers and Lady Red Devils retreated to their respective benches swaddled in blankets and jackets with AHS up 6-0 at halftime.
As AHS began the second half with possession, CHS started to show some extra fight that was not present at times in the first half.
However, Paige Martin broke that newfound resolve with 33:19 left in the game after opportunistically pouncing on the loose ball after Ashford made an amazing save to deny Simmons’ header.
Counts then secured her brace roughly eight minutes later, scoring with an instinctive finish when a failed clearance ended up right at her feet near the goal.
As the Lady Tigers went up 8-0 with 25:39 left to play, the possibility of AHS securing their fourth mercy-rule victory of the season became very real.
That possibility only grew after Hammer became the third Lady Tiger to record a brace with a pinpoint accurate shot from the edge of the box after the ball bounced around between several players from both teams with just over 20 minutes left to play.
Then, with 7:33 left in the game, the Lady Tigers completed the scoring after what appeared to be an own goal following another well-placed Ferguson corner. With AHS up 10-0, the referees initiated the mercy rule and ended the game.
If the girls’ game was a sleepy, lopsided affair, the boys’ game was anything but.
While the Red Devils also started the game with the ball, the action began much quicker after it appeared Central forward Jan Bach had broken through less than a minute into the game. Yet Bach’s lightning-quick strike was nullified after the line judge called him offside.
Despite an excellent fight from CHS early on, the Tigers slowly took control of the game and found the better chances in the opening 12 minutes.
The breakthrough moment occurred with 20 minutes until halftime after Adrian Pillaca launched a curling free kick into the top right corner from 10 yards outside of the box. It drew the ire of the Red Devils’ goalkeeper Jack Ciancio, who disagreed with the penalty that set up the goal.
Despite CHS having several opportunities to score in the final minutes and doing a better job of limiting Auburn’s scoring after the free kick, it wasn’t enough to level the game before halftime.
As the horn buzzed, both teams retreated to their benches with AHS holding a 1-0 lead.
After halftime ended, AHS began with possession of the ball and an intent to extend their lead.
It did not take Jackson Heisler long to do just that after sneaking through the Central defense, advancing the ball up the right wing and placing a slow, low-rolling ball inside the far post mere minutes after play resumed.
Facing a two-goal deficit, Bach injected life into the Red Devils after regaining possession of the ball on the right wing and working his way through the Auburn defense to slot the ball into the net. With 23 minutes left to play, the pressure was squarely on the Tigers to hold onto their lead.
That pressure only grew after desperate hand-to-hand combat for possession of the ball ultimately led to a foul in the box with 8:36 left to play. As a hush fell over the small crowd, Myles Walden slotted a low penalty kick just past the Auburn goalkeeper’s outstretched arm and inside the left post.
Then, when the game seemed destined to end in a draw, Jacob Castillo snuck the ball past the diving goalkeeper with a curling right-footed shot from outside the box that bounced once before hitting the back of the net.
With only two seconds left, the Red Devils collapsed to the turf in agony while the Tigers mobbed Castillo with joy.
The Lady Tigers play at Montgomery Academy on March 25 at 5 p.m. and home against St. Anne-Pacelli on March 28 at 6 p.m. The Tigers play at Montgomery Academy on March 25 at 7 p.m. and home against St. Anne-Pacelli on March 28 at 8 p.m.
The Lady Red Devils play at Jordan (Columbus, Ga.) High School on April 7 at 5:30 p.m. and home against Russell County High School on April 8 at 4:30 p.m. The Red Devils play at Jordan (Columbus, Ga.) High School on April 7 at 7:30 p.m. and home against Russell County High School on April 8 at 7:30 p.m.
