Rec soccer state tournament: 18-U

By Nick Duke | Troy Messenger

Originally published 03:26 p.m., November 21, 2009
Updated 05:42 p.m., November 21, 2009

It’s hard for victories to be any more dramatic than the victory that the Troy 18-U soccer team picked up in its first game of the day at the ARPA State Championships.

Trailing Prattville 3-2 with less than 10 seconds remaining, Douglas McLendon got off a shot for Troy that found the back of the net as time expired, sending the game into a shootout.

The five-shot shootout was not enough, however, as both teams converted four of their five attempts to send the match into a sudden death shootout.

Prattville’s first attempt in sudden death bounced directly into the arms of Troy’s goalkeeper, setting up a game-ending penalty kick goal by Andrew Bentley.

“We had very cool finishers taking our kicks,” said head coach Doug McLendon. “When we got to the second five, we felt like we had an advantage because we’ve got guys up and down the lineup that can kick them.”

McLendon finished with two goals, while Lloyd Shillabeer added the other regulation goal.

The momentum from the win over Prattville definitely carried over into the team’s second game of the day against Dothan.

Troy led 1-0 at the half, but exploded for four second half goals en route to a 5-1 victory.

Jaden Barnes scored the first half goal, while Cory Lee and McLendon added goals in the second half. Shillabeer scored two goals in the final period.

With the win, Troy is now 2-0 in pool play, meaning it can clinch a state title with a win over Eufaula at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Unfortunately, Troy will be a bit short-handed for Sunday’s match.

“Tomorrow, we’ll have some players who will be missing due to vacation and religious observances, so we’ll be very short,” McLendon said. “Hopefully we’ll have enough to play.”

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