Freshman forward Austin Marfel took a pass on the left side of the pitch with 29 minutes remaining on the first half and took one of the best opportunities he would have all night to put the Houston County High School Bears in front of their competition, the equally as talented Northside High School Eagles. Moments later the ball was in the back of the Eagles goal, just past the junior goalkeeper Colin Thomas.
To Thomas’ credit he could easily be described as the man of the match for the Herculean effort he put forth in goal for the Eagles on Friday night. That said, you now have to call the HoCo Bears boys soccer team the AAAAAA-1 region champions. The Bears would only manage one goal despite dominating possession throughout the match. Northside had a hard time breaking through the Bears midfield, let alone their back line. The same could not be said for HoCo as the Bears forwards and strikers took over 10 shots on goal during the first half and just as many shots on goal during the second half. Frustration for the Eagles back line would set in during both halves as well with a number of hard tackles getting the referee’s attention. Northside senior left back Joshua Lane would receive a yellow card just before halftime.
Eagles senior forwards BJ Fambro and Alex Gelter, Thomas and the rest of the Eagles will get another shot at a championship next week during the state playoffs. Northside finishes the regular season with a record of 9-6.
The Bears are now the region champions and will get an opportunity to host their first game of the state tournament next week. They took their shot and one went in. That’s all it took on Friday night, for one shot to go in. Now on to the next one.
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