WHITEVILLE – Williams made their final three penalty kicks to defeat Elizabethtown Tuesday in a Waccamaw Middle School Conference boys soccer shootout after the two teams had tied 4-4 in regulation play.
Elizabethtown took a 4-3 lead into the final moments of regulation. A Williams corner kick was cleared out, but an Aggie player put up a hard desperation shot from just outside the box that went into the back of the net and forced the shootout.
After Williams missed their first penalty kick in the shootout, Malcolm Bolden knocked in his penalty kick to put the Cougars ahead. Cougar goalie Fernando Rebollar blocked the second Aggie attempt, and Jamie Delgado banged in his penalty kick for a 2-0 Elizabethtown lead.
Williams converted all three of their remaining penalty kicks in the shootout, and the Aggie goalie turned away the remaining three Cougar penalty kicks to win the shootout 3-2.
The Cougars had taken a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game as Delgado found the back of the net with a shot. The Aggies rallied with a goal midway the first half then capitalized on a misclear to take a 2-1 lead right before halftime.
Williams stretched their lead to 3-1 early in the second half, before Chace Butler answered with a goal for Elizabethtown. Bolden scored the tying goal for the Cougars then blasted in a penalty kick to put the Cougars ahead 4-3.
“I am proud of the effort we put forth,” said Cougar Coach Jay Raynor. “We could have hung our heads going down two goals, but instead we fought and clawed our way back. We have to start the game that way and we will be in the drivers seat.”
Rebollar had ten saves in the game for the Cougars.
“The game was extremely physical, and we were undersized but held our own,” noted Raynor. “We have nothing to be ashamed of with the result.”
It was the first loss of the season for the Cougars who are now 4-1.
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