Oakwood falls in PK shootout for ISC championship
After a season of cancellations and quarantines, the Oakwood Christian Middle School Eagles finally played for another ISC soccer title last week.
However, the Eagles’ hopes for yet another league championship were dashed by Berean Academy, who ended OCA’S stranglehold on the title in a penalty kick shootout in the final match.
With both teams’ rosters smaller than usual for the final for a variety of reasons, Oakwood went on the attack early in the match. The pressure would pay off in the sixth minute as Elizabeth Silva took a free kick from over 20 yards out and curved it into the net to put the Eagles up, 1-0.
Oakwood would maintain control for the majority of the rest of the first half, but in the waning moments before intermission, Berean was able to connect on a pass that lead to a shot that beat the defense for the equalizer.
Both teams battled toothand-nail in the second half, but despite shots on goal by Silva, Ryan Phillips, Gavin Dempsey, and Luke Heptinstall, Oakwood couldn’t find the back of the net.
After a scoreless five-minute overtime session, the match went to a best-of-five shootout where the greenclad Eagles from Hixson won the title with a 4-1 shootout victory.
“Even with all the distractions of cancelled matches, missed practices and missing players in the last two weeks of the season, this team still remained focus on getting better every day and playing for another championship,” said head coach Dirk Dickson. “Considering all the distractions that this team was plagued with and the limited amount of time we were really together as a team, this was a really good season.
“We practiced and played with a positive attitude and played to defend the title of ISC champions.”
Dickson added that, despite the tough loss, there was no way to be disappointed in the season.
“I’m proud of this team’s attitude and how they played,” he continued. “I’ve been blessed to be able to serve these students this year as their coach and I’m thankful to everyone that has worked so hard this season to provide all these students the opportunity to play the game of soccer.”