Long County boys’ soccer team continued their winning ways Friday by beating Pierce County. The Lady Tide’s night wasn’t as sweet. They fell to the Lady Bears.
Playing in Ludowici, Long County outscored Pierce County 5-1 and remained undefeated.
Blue Tide head coach Paul Austin said his players’ offensive and defensive play continued to be stellar, but playing as a family has been the key to their success.
“I can’t say enough how proud of my guys that I am,” Austin said. “I know that they have heard it over and over again where we are ranked, but we are just taking it one game at a time. Every game is the most important game and a ranking is just an expectation, and an expectation never won a thing. The way to win is playing as a family.”
Austin also said each player is as important as the others.
“Every person on this team has a very important role,” he said. “We would not be where we are without everyone doing their job and doing it very well.”
With the Region 2-AA win, the Blue Tide improved their overall record to 7-0 and region mark to 5-0. Currently, Long County is ranked No. 3 in the AA state rankings, according to EurosportScoreboard.com.
The Lady Tide fell 4-0 to the Lady Bears. Head coach Sabrina Caines praised Pierce County, saying the team was disciplined and talented. Despite the loss, Caines said she was pleased with her players’ effort.
“I was pleased that we managed to keep their number of goals scored to a minimum,” the coach said. “Pierce has won by six goals or more in a majority of their games against bigger schools in the AAA.”
She also said that for her team to succeed this year, players need to improve at passing, communication and unity on the field.
“Building a new team with many new players is a challenge, but I am proud of our progress so far,” Caines said.
With the loss, the Lady Tide fell to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the region.
Tuesday, both Tide teams were back at home taking on Bryan County. Results were not available by press time.
Now, the Blue Tide and the Lady Tide are off until March 15, when they play Bacon County in Alma. The girls kick off at 5 p.m. and the boys follow at 7.