‘IN ONE MINUTE’S TIME’

Published 11:52 pm Thursday, May 11, 2017

Andalusia held Briarwood scoreless in the Final Four yesterday, save 1 minute in which they scored 2 goals and ended the Bulldogs’ season

The Andalusia Bulldogs saw their dream season come to an end with a 2-0 defeat to Briarwood Christian on Thursday in the AHSAA Class 4A/5A Soccer Final Four in Huntsville.

In the opening half, both teams battled back-and-forth, but neither could find a goal.

Wain Yongkuma just missed one shot early in the game and set up a Bulldog corner kick.

The corner kick was fired into play, but Briarwood was able to clear the ball without a Bulldog shot on goal.

Andalusia continued to keep the ball down near the Briarwood goal, but a shot from Kiki Wain sailed wide of the mark.

Bulldog goalie Franklin Osario then made a diving save on the first Briarwood shot of the game.

Halfway through the opening period, Briarwood was able to do something that Bulldogs weren’t able to do. They made a mass substitution to get fresh legs in the game, but the Bulldog bench was not nearly as deep as Briarwood’s.

With the fresh legs, Briarwood began to make a push, but Osario and the Bulldogs continued to play strong and kept the game scoreless.

With time winding down in the opening half, Osario made another strong save and the scored remained 0-0 heading into halftime.

Briarwood came out strong in the second half, and scored the first goal of the game just ahead of the 37-minute mark.

Barely a minute later, another Briarwood goal gave them a 2-0 lead.

The Bulldogs narrowly missed on a shot with 10 minutes left in the game, and after that Andalusia never got another shot on goal.

“I just feel so bad for the kids,” Andalusia head coach Jarrett Williamson said, “The kids did everything right, but it wasn’t meant to be. Regardless, we give God the glory for this season. I really thought we played pretty well, but in one minute’s time, everything changed. That’s just part of soccer. These kids played hard and I’m so proud of the way they fought all season.”