Coach Jamie Ard’s Bainbridge High School Bearcats soccer team shut out the Americus-Sumter County High School Panthers, 3-0, Tuesday night at Centennial Field.

Emilio Hernandez opened the scoring in the 25th minute, when he took a pass from Josh Rivera and kicked the ball into the back of the net.

Hernandez scored again in the 26th minute, this time after taking a pass from Daniel Provence.
The Bearcats closed out the scoring in the 31st minute, when Carlos Becerra took a pass from Louis Mejia, slipped in behind the Panthers’ back line of defense and delivered a shot on goal.

Following the game, Ard expressed pleasure with his Bearcats’ performance.

“I honestly think that this may have been the most complete and best played game that we have had all year,” he said. “That is not to say that we played perfectly, but we did do a lot of the things that we need to do to be successful. We possessed the ball by quickly making passes, we played defense as a unit, and we created numerous opportunities to score.”

Ard was also pleased with his team’s dominance of the Panthers’ half of the field.

“We played most of the game on the opponents’ half of the field and we really limited their opportunities on goal,” he said. “The win was particularly satisfying to the team and me, because Americus-Sumter County beat us 1-0 in our second game of the season in Americus. We beat a quality team and that gives us confidence going forward.

“Villeser Sarmiento was spectacular, as usual, on the back line of defense, and Dominic Douglas played a great game in goal. In addition, Keyanni Hention took over at goalkeeper late in the game and made an outstanding save to preserve our shutout.”

Ard also pointed out that Ricardo Campos and Rivera played crucial roles in the victory by winning balls behind the midfielders and in front of the defense.

He said he also thought that outside defenders Kimani Crawford and Lenorris Flowers did a much better job of winning balls from he opposition and making positive passes.

“Daniel Provence, Louis Mejia, Emilio Hernandez, Carlos Becerra and Emiliano Rivera did a great job passing the ball and possessing it,” Ard said in wrapping up his comments. “They put a massive amount of pressure on the opposition.

“If they can work together that well and continue to improve, we will be in good shape as we move towards the playoffs.”