The Bainbridge soccer team played twice this past week, losing a barnburner to Cairo on Tuesday then dismantling Dougherty County on Thursday.

The Bearcats scored two goals early in the match against Cairo on Tuesday and were poised to stay in control of the game. However, the Bearcats allowed the Syrupmakers to come back and contend.

The Bearcats conceded two Cairo goals in the first half to send the game to the break tied at 2-2. A quick goal from the Bearcats at the start of the second half put them up 3-2. Cairo tied the game at 3-3 after that and then Bainbridge collapsed. Bainbridge gave up three unanswered goals before finally putting in a goal themselves before the end of the match to end on a final score of 6-4.

“My guys looked tired,” said head coach Rick Lewis, “and we have two injuries and we struggled to find some defensive players.”

Lewis was able to play with the lineup to fix the gaps left by the injured players though, and eventually found a working rotation. Although the loss was rough, there were some positive takeaways from the game after watching film.

After reviewing some of the takeaways from Cairo and after tinkering with a lineup that works, the Bearcats hit their stride against Dougherty County.

The Bearcats started with their patchwork starting 11, and it proved to be a well-oiled machine.

“I am more proud of this game on Thursday night that just about any other game they’ve played,” said Lewis.” Even when we were up big, even when all the backups were given a few minutes, the intensity never went down. They we’re fighting just as hard.”

Four Bearcats scored against Dougherty, including a hat trick from Misael Rodriguez. Caleb Harris found the back of the net twice, as well as Gino Pallotti. Nix McIntosh scored one goal, and then Cairo let in an own goal. The final score was 9-1 in favor of Bainbridge.

“Another thing I was proud of was Caleb Harris,” said Lewis. “He was in the game to get a hat trick, he had four opportunities deep in their territory and every time he passed it off to someone who had a little better shot. It’s good when you can brag on a player for not being selfish at all and passed off personal recognition for the betterment of the team.”

The Bearcats sit at 3-4 on the season and travel to Veterans on Saturday.