Baldwin County handed the Liberty County Panthers’ soccer squad their first loss on Friday night, 4-1, and on Saturday afternoon the Panther squad took the field at home against Richmond Hill who handed the squad their second loss, 5-2.
Coach Bryant Durham called the second game well fought and well played. While the Panthers fall to 9-2 the coach said his team is definitely playing more cohesive this season than last.
"There is more teamwork and talking on the field," he said. "We are playing like winners and playing like we know we can play."
The Panthers’ schedule is about to get tougher as the next five games are all region opponents. The losses to Baldwin and Richmond Hill gives them a 3-2 region 3-AAA record.
The coach added his squad has played together for a long time either at the high school level or recreationally and it’s help with communication on the field.
But he downplayed comparing one season to another or how a team played from one year to the next.
"I’ve learned that you can’t anticipate a team based on who and what they had last year," he said. "I learned that a couple of years ago when I expected some teams to bring a whole lot different game than what they brought. It’s hard to compare year to year because teams lose and gain players. So I like to concentrate more on what we have and what we can do. Don’t worry about what they have, let’s worry about what we can do. We know what our game is and we need to play our game. That is what I encourage them to do."
Goal keeper Eric Holloway was credited for four saves in Saturday’s match and Robbie Bacon scored.
The Panthers play at home Saturday against Washington County at Freedom Field at Lewis Frasier Middle School in Hinesville. The girls take the field at 2 p.m. with the boys’ game to follow.
Panther Roster, jersey number
Robbie Bacon 1
Devin Buck 7
Martin Causer 13
Wesley Causer 10
Chris Davison 11
Cody Folker 8
Logan Glover 5
Robert Hinkle 14
Andre Hooliday 24
Eric Holloway 22
Josh Hutchinson 4
Josh Hutto 3
Chris Jimenez 6
Steven Orcutt 12
Cody Rozier 18
Glenn Santoyo 16
Austin Trosper 21
Adrien Vakerics 19
Devin Walker 15
Cody Waterman 2
Michael Wilkinson 20
Darren Wiltsire 9