BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Having lost their first matchups against Auburn High School earlier this season, the Opelika High School girls and boys soccer teams travelled to Duck Samford Stadium on March 27 with revenge on their minds.
Instead, the Lady Tigers (10-2-1, 4-0) rode a surge late in the second half to claim a 6-0 win over the Lady Bulldogs (6-6-1, 0-3), and the Tigers (12-2-1, 4-0) took advantage of their best opportunities to take down the Bulldogs (6-6-1, 0-3) 3-0.
The wins put both of AHS’s teams in pole position in 7A Area 4 less than a month before the playoffs begin, while OHS’s girls and boys must now win their final three area games apiece for a shot at qualification.
Girls game
AHS wasted little time, breaking the deadlock with 23:47 remaining in the first half off a well-worked set piece and a gorgeous glancing header.
That 1-0 lead held deep into the second half before the Lady Tigers blew things open in the final 10 minutes with five straight goals.
With 9:25 left on the clock, AHS unlisted three goals in less than two minutes, including an audacious, highlight-reel strike from 23 yards out and a beautiful effort that skimmed 18 yards across the artificial turf and made it just inside the right post.
OHS tried to regroup, but with 3:59 remaining, the Lady Tigers punched in two more goals in a one-minute span.
Boys game
Thirty-four minutes after the match kicked off, a brief moment of chaos allowed AHS to finally break the deadlock. A scramble in the box saw a Tiger latch onto a loose ball and emphatically toe it into the top-left corner for a 1-0 Tigers lead.
The Bulldogs came out fighting in the second half, refusing to let the game slip away without a battle. However, 15 minutes into the second half, an AHS player cut in from the wing and drove a powerful, 26-yard shot that skimmed past the goalkeeper’s outstretched arm and nestled just inside the left post.
The final nail in the coffin came with just 57 seconds left on the clock after a failed clearance in the box ricocheted directly into a Tiger’s path. Despite a desperate last-ditch block attempt from an OHS defender, AHS converted the point-blank chance to give AHS its 3-0 win.
