Terrors look for revenge against Pirates
Apr. 1—Glynn Academy's boys soccer team has one blemish on their record this season, and it came at the hands of crosstown rivals Brunswick High when the Pirates defeated the Terrors 2-0 on March 9.
Since then, the Terrors haven't lost a game, and now it all comes down to their final match of the regular season. The two rivals will play one final time tonight at Glynn County Stadium at 7 p.m.
With a 2-0 win over Richmond Hill on Tuesday, the Terrors move to 13-1-1 on the season and 10-1 in region play. Off two assists by Jonathan Sasser, John William Barbee and Luke O'Connor scored the two goals to give the Terrors the victory.
Tonight's game will put the winner in the driver's seat for region champs and a top 2 seed in the state playoffs, but regardless of the result, the Terrors are set to host a first-round game.
Coach Bobby Brockman said if they win tonight's game, Glynn will be the region champions, but if Brunswick wins, they'll have to get three straight region wins to claim the title.
"The fact that they're having as much success they are this year is not a shock. This was a year where I knew that they were going to have a lot of seniors, and they also have some very good juniors," Brockman said. "So we knew it would be a very tough Brunswick team this year. They've also done a really good job with the system that their new coach has put in — Enrique has done a really fine job with those guys."
In the first game between these teams, Glynn didn't play their best game. Brockman said they didn't play well individually, and that was disappointing.
"I don't know if that was just an off night or our young guys didn't adjust well to such a big crowd or exactly what it was," Brockman said. "We've got to do a better job of playing soccer, and putting the ball down on the ground, finding our teammates, and not getting into a contest where we're just trying to match them athletically. That's difficult when so many of their guys are so much older than our guys."
The Terrors will look to Simon Van Boxel along with Sasser to get the offense going as the two have led the team in scoring. Glynn will also need a solid performance from Bennett Colbert, their senior goalkeeper. He's given up just 12 goals this season through 15 games.
Van Boxel leads overall with 14 goals, and close behind him is Sasser with 13 goals. The junior has also been helpful in dealing out assists when needed.
These three have the most experience on the team where Brockman said they had eight underclassmen in starting roles. While they've had a whole season to work on improving, these kinds of games are still tough.
Brockman said while he's had youngsters start for him over the years, be it freshmen or sophomores, he's never had this many play at one time.
"The bottom line is, it doesn't matter what grade you're in. If you're good enough to start out there, then you should be able to handle what comes along with that," Brockman said. "I really feel the guys will play much better on Thursday than we did the first time around."
The Pirates defeated Glynn Academy for the first time in school history, but now the Terrors will look for revenge as the two will meet for the Terrors' final region game of the season tonight at 7 p.m. at Glynn County Stadium.
