The Bears soccer team advanced to the Elite Eight state play-offs while the Lady Bears season came to an end in the Sweet 16.
The Bears were slated to play Model in Rome Tuesday in the Elite Eight round (after The Times’ deadline).
The Lady Bears lost to Ace Charter 2-1 in overtime in the Sweet 16 round.
The Bears upset the number one seed, Fitzgerald to advance ot the Elite Eight. Elite-8 position.
The Bears offense went straight to work on the opening whistle. Senior striker Jonah Allen blazed through the Canes’ defense and hammered in the opening goal for the Bears. Immediately after, sophomore striker Ashton Bowen followed suit with another perfectly placed goal. Halfway through the first half, junior midfielder Clark Stovall sent a missile just under the crossbar and past the Canes’ keeper for goal number three. With the clock running out in the first half, sophomore Eric Merida put an exclamation point on the offensive half by nailing a brilliant shot from outside of the box to secure a 4-0 score for the Bears. In the second half, the Canes came out swinging and scored two goals in the first five minutes and cut the Bears’ lead in half.
The Bears recovered quickly when Allen sliced through the Canes’ defense again and smashed in two more goals. Not to be outdone, Bowen punched another goal in off of a deflection. With five minutes remaining in the game, the Canes fouled the Bears in the box and afforded a penalty kick for the Bears. Senior winger Colin Waters was elected to take the PK for the Bears. Waters placed the ball on the mark and buried the ball in the net to score goal number eight, thus securing the Bears a spot in the Elite-8 round. The Bears’ defense — Walker Brown, Ceb Carter, Seth Stipe and Lane Doss — had an exceptional performance, holding the high-scoring Canes to only two goals on the day. The Bears’ goalkeeper, Caden Edwards, was a brick wall all game long; he recorded eight saves.
Earlier in the week, in the first round, the Bears defeated Westside of Augusta 7-0.
The Bears went to work early in the first half, with both Allen and Bowen finding the back of the net. At the end of the first half, the Bears led 4-0. At the start of the second half, the Bear’s offense picked up where they had left off scoring three more goals. The goals were scored by Allen, Bowen and Doss. Throughout the game the Bear’s defense (Stipe, Carter, Brown) shutdown Westside’s attacks allowing only five shots on goal. Goalkeeper Edwards recorded another clean sheet for the Bears.
