By: Christopher Smith

The Andalusia High School varsity soccer team is headed to round two of the AHSAA playoffs after shutting out Faith Academy 5-0 on Friday night in Andalusia.

In the first 10 minutes, the Bulldogs pushed forward and received a corner kick, which Reese Burkhardt capitalized on making it 1-0.

The Rams then countered with a scoring opportunity that went off the corner post and into the hands of goalkeeper Franklin Osario.

After a solid 10 minutes of equal possession from both teams in the midfield, the Rams had two more scoring opportunities from corner kicks that were unsuccessful.

Then the Bulldogs stepped up their game. Kiki Wain fought his way through the sideline and took a roaring shot on goal that was stopped by the Rams’ goalkeeper, but David Turner picked up the rebound and put it in the goal to make it 2-0.

The Rams tried to fight back after receiving a free kick from a handball, but could not get things rolling.

Wain then dribbled past several defenders and the goalkeeper as he nailed a goal to make it 3-0.

The Rams countered again with a hard shot on goal, but Osario was there for the stop.

Late in the first half, a throw in led to Wain’s second goal of the night as he dribbled past defenders and put the Bulldogs up 4-0.

The Rams were not going to give up as they pressed on offense in the second half with a couple of shots, but Osario was strong in goal to keep the shut out.

There were several failed attempts from the Bulldogs to keep on racking up the score.

Finally after an error from the Rams’ goalkeeper, Wain was able to capitalize on his mistake to make it 5-0.

“I feel like our defense has been extremely solid,” head coach Jarrett Williamson said. “They are now trusting each other and the more solid they are, the more chances up top we get.”

Williamson said that there were some injuries heading into the game, but several kids stepped up to the task.

“I think we have a tough game coming up,” Williamson said. “The main thing we need to do is take care of our bodies and watch a lot of film to get ready.”

The Bulldogs will take on Montgomery Catholic in Montgomery in round two of the AHSAA playoffs on Monday night.

The last time that the Bulldogs played Montgomery Catholic they won 2-1.

“It was at the beginning of the season,” Williamson said. “So they were still figuring out how they needed to play and so were we, so it will be an interesting to see how both teams have grown since that last match up.”