By CINDY CROSBY
The Colleton County Cougar Soccer team dropped games last week against Region VII-AAAA opponents Bluffton High School (7-0) and James Island High School (6-0). Both Bluffton High School and James Island remain undefeated in the Region VII race and are ranked in state-wide polls.
The Cougars are currently 1-5 overall and 0-5 in Region VII.
“It was again a tough week for us,” said Coach Brian Reid. “We played much more organized defensively against Bluffton and played a solid first half. However, we were just unlucky and found ourselves down 3-0 after being down by a goal.”
“With about 15 minutes left in the half, a penalty kick was called on Chandler McMillan for a foul in the box,” said Reid. “McMillan was just unlucky on the challenge as the player lost his footing and made it appear that he took him out in the box. Bluffton went ahead 2-0 after successfully making the kick. McMillan had a solid game leading the defense.”
“I was proud of how we kept up the effort in the second half,” said Reid. “The difference was in the player rotation as we had just four substitutes and Bluffton had 11. We just ran out of gas as they kept running fresh players at us, while led to them slowly adding goals in the final 20 minutes of the game. It really was a much-improved defensive effort and we picked up physicality that we have not had all season. There are signs that we are now moving in the right direction.
“Against the defending AAAA State Champions, James Island High School, we were missing a key player,” said Reid. “I was extremely impressed with how we played as we stayed organized defensively and communicated switches. We also tried to counterattack, but we were missing a key part of our plan of attack. Trailing 3-0 at the half, two poor clearances led directly to goals in the final 15 minutes, giving them a 3-0 lead.
“We hung with James Island all night,” said Reid. “It was our best defensive organization and communication of the season and we battled for the entire 80 minutes. I was happy to see the fans were giving them a boost when we would drop off a little and I was impressed with the support. We can build on this and hopefully learn to attack.”
Colleton County was scheduled to host Beaufort High School on March 22 before traveling to Whale Branch Early College High School on Friday, March 25.
