Goals by Daniel Provence and Louis Mejia led the Bainbridge High School Bearcats soccer team to a 2-1 Tuesday victory over the Cairo High School Syrupmakers at Centennial Field.

In the 26th minute, Provence took a ball inside the Syrupmakers’ penalty area, made a defender miss and laced a shot past the goal keeper and into the upper part of the net.

The Syrupmakers tied the game at 1-1, in the 61st minute.

In the closing 10 minutes, the Bearcats got the ball deep in Cairo’s end. The ball got knocked around and landed at Louis Mejia’s feet. He caught the goal keeper out of position and placed a shot into the net from around 30 yards away, giving the Bearcats a 2-1 lead and ultimately the victory.

“We played hard and hustled all night,” said Bainbridge coach Jamie Ard, after the win over the Syrupmakers. “It was a total team effort.

“I was especially proud of Colby Swicord’s play. He was asked to play a defensive position in the midfield that he had never played before, because one of our players was injured before the game.

“He did an outstanding job of winning balls and playing them forward to our attacking players. We would not have won without his efforts.”

Ard also praised Keyanni Hentia for his strong play in place of another injured player.

“Keyanni Hentia had to come in for a few minutes for injured goalkeeper Dominic Douglas,” he said. “He is new to the position, and he had to defend a Cairo corner kick, which are great opportunities to score. He made a crucial save and filled in until Dominic, who had another solid game in goal for us, was ready to go again.

“I really thought Villecer Sarmiento played a solid game defensively, as well as Kimani Crawford, Lenorris Flanders and freshman Ricardo Campos.

“Rod Warren also got some valuable time defensively and played well. Overall it was a great job by the team. It’s always good to beat a quality team like Cairo.”