Wildcats upset by Bobcats
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The Wildcats played their District Semi-final game against Giles County and lost after 18 rounds of penalty kicks.
The game was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, so they went to an overtime that consisted of two 10 minute halves. With no score during overtime they had to go to penalty kicks. After the first five kicks the game was still tied and it went to a sudden death. The game could end at any point now as long as one team held a lead after the round of kicks. The game remained tied through 10 rounds and then there was a delay as the officials had to take time to examine the rules on how to proceed after 10 rounds. The two teams reshuffled the order of the 10 players and the penalty kicks began again. On the 18th round, the Bobcats’ senior goalkeeper made his third save of the shootout and ended the game.
Tullahoma fought hard all night through the very physical and chippy game that ended up having a player from both teams receive a red card. Gabe Barnes and Grant Chadwick scored the two goals for the Wildcats. Barnes’ goal came unassisted on a direct kick and Chadwick’s came off of an assist by Tucker Anderson. The ‘Cats had multiple missed scoring opportunities on the night.
Tullahoma finished the regular season with a 12-2-1 overall record and 6-0-1 District record. They had a winning streak of nine games that was broken up by their lone tie on the season. Then they won four of the last five games including the Coffee Cup. Over the course of the regular season the Wildcats scored 68 goals while only allowing 15. That success led to winning the 2A District 11 regular season title for the first time since joining the District. In the postseason, the ‘Cats handled Marshall County easily for the second time this year to advance to the District semifinals. That is where the season came to an end after the heartbreaking loss to Giles County in a shootout that went 18 rounds.
