BY DANIEL SCHMIDT | THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Auburn High School’s girls and boys soccer teams were both victorious against Enterprise High School, opening the first round of the 7A playoffs with shutouts at Duck Samford Stadium on April 27.
In a battle of feline mascots, the No. 3 Lady Tigers (13-3-2) eviscerated the No. 9 Lady Wildcats (14-4-1) 7-0, and the No. 5 Tigers (17-4-2) rode a second-half scoring flurry to defeat the No. 9 Wildcats (17-5-1) 4-0.
Both AHS teams will now travel to Mobile later this week to face opponents who were not determined by Tuesday’s press deadline.
Girls game
With their third-straight shutout and seventh in their last nine games, the Lady Tigers were again at their usual defensive best. However, the most noticeable improvement in the last several weeks has been AHS’s decisiveness in shooting in front of the goal.
AHS head girls and boys coach Bill Ferguson lauded his team’s senior leadership and his coaching staff for the better offensive output and praised his players’ decisive and mature display on the pitch.
“It was good because we honestly came a little nervy, even though I think we were in control for the entire game,” Ferguson said. “We were moving off the ball, finding simple passes and playing beautiful, flowing, poetic soccer, which is what these girls can do. I was happy watching them be themselves in the second half because I thought we didn’t look like ourselves in the first half. In the second half, that’s who we are.”
Camilla Bosman, who earned the right to wear the Lady Tigers’ “relentless effort” boxer’s robe after the game, again starred for AHS. The senior Jacksonville State University signee broke through an early stalemate with a gorgeous goal to open the scoring and secured her brace with another goal in the second half.
“Whenever we’re moving the ball, playing with each other and scoring team goals, [which] came from everywhere [today] and are really fun, too, it’s such a joy,” Bosman said. “I’ve been on the winning side and the losing side, so yeah, it’s definitely better to be on the winning side. This was a great way to start the playoffs off strong, and it was good to play as a team in the second half.”
Bosman broke the deadlock after 24 minutes played with a beautiful half-volley finish on a lofted through ball that went past the goalkeeper and inside the left post to put the Lady Tigers up 1-0.
Eight minutes later, Ryan Ferguson effectively doubled AHS’s lead with a dangerous corner kick near the front post, which the goalkeeper attempted to save before it became an own-goal. That gave the Lady Tigers a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
After the break, AHS stormed out of the gate with goals from Bosman, Lulabelle Hammer and Molly Northcutt within the first two and a half minutes of the second half to take a 5-0 lead.
Less than five minutes later, Hammer added her second goal of the game with a powerful right-footed finish inside the box, and Allison Cobb capped off a one-on-one opportunity against the EHS goalkeeper to conclude the scoring with 25:44 left to play.
Boys game
While the boys game was more competitive than the girls game, it played out in an eerily similar manner. Holding a slight 1-0 lead at halftime, the Tigers distanced themselves after the Wildcats’ resistance crumbled in the form of three allowed goals around or after the halfway point of the second half.
It was exactly the start Ferguson said he wanted to see from his team as they look to build on their second-round playoff exit last year. In particular, he singled out the play of goalkeeper Brody Cobine, whose save early in the second half prevented EHS from cashing in on a potential game-tying chance.
“The Enterprise boys are a great team coached by Bruce [Ladner], who I have all the respect for in the world, so to win 4-0 at home in front of our fans in the first round is definitely a dream start,” Ferguson said. “Our wide play was brilliant tonight, our central attack was spot on and Brody made numerous big saves. When we have the confidence and swagger to go out and just play our game, man, I like our chances.”
Similar to Bosman, Clifton Pace opened the game’s scoring with a first-half goal and earned his brace in the second half with a jaw-dropping display of finishing and control on a long lofted through ball to put AHS up 4-0.
“At the beginning of the season, we didn’t have much passion, and we talked about it as a team to come out here and play with passion because it’s our seniors’ last home game,” Pace said. “I feel like we’re going to keep our intensity, and that passion is going to raise the team. We’ve already beaten both of the teams we could play [in the second round], but we’re not going to get that in our heads and go out there like it’s a brand new game.”
Pace broke open a tough, gritty game less than 15 minutes after the opening kickoff, after a failed clearance led to a mad scramble in the box right next to the goal line. With the ball rolling around on the turf, the junior winger ended the action with a toe tap finish that put AHS up 1-0.
Coming out of halftime with a slim lead, the Tigers found themselves straining for a second goal until around the halfway point of the second half. With 22:23 remaining, Ryan Nichols pounced on a failed clearance in the Wildcats’ box and coolly slotted a point-blank finish into the bottom left corner past the goalkeeper.
Less than eight minutes later, Jackson Heisler gave AHS its third goal of the game by finishing a decisive cutback pass inside the box to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead and the growing certainty they would advance.
With the result virtually already in hand, Pace tallied his second goal and ended EHS’s dreams of an improbable comback by perfectly controlling a long lofted pass and placed it into the bottom left corner with three minutes remaining.
