Andalusia’s 15-and-under soccer all-stars finished as runner-up in this year’s state soccer championship.

 

Andalusia dropped the first game Saturday 2-0 to Sylacauga, who went on to win the state championship.

 

“They were a lot bigger, faster and had more depth then we did,” Andalusia coach Tim Barr said. “They were able to rotate players in, and keep fresh legs on the field at all times.”

 

In game two Saturday, Andalusia defeated Eufaula in a shootout after regulation ended in 3-3 tie.

 

“We jumped out on them 3-0, but Eufaula tied it up in regulation,” Barr said. “You could tell our players were getting tired since we don’t have the depth to sub in like we needed to.”

 

In the third game, Andalusia faced Eufaula again, beating them 4-0. The win gave Andalusia a second shot at Sylacauga.

 

“We started having to deal with some injuries and yellow cards, but our bench players played exceptionally well for us when we needed them to,” Barr said.

 

In the final game against Sylacauga, Andalusia fell 7-1.

 

“They just had more depth and faster players than we did,” Barr said. “We missed some scoring opportunities in the first ten minutes, and then our players just wore down.”

 

Barr said he hopes that these kids stick with soccer, because they can be very talented bunch of kids.

 

“This was the first time in a long time that we have had the number of kids necessary to play 15-and-under,” Barr said. “A lot of these kids had never played organized soccer before this season, so hopefully we can get them back next year and do something special.”