Two early goals in the first half doomed Statesboro as the Blue Devils fell 5-0 to Savannah Country Day in their season opener at Womack Field Tuesday night. 

“We made some simple mistakes that Savannah Country Day, they’re a good team, they capitalized on,” said SHS head coach Jared Simonin. “That’s why we play these (non-region) games. We’ve got three total games before we play region and we’re going to try to clean up some things before we get to region games where it really matters.”

Statesboro struggled offensively in the first half as they were only able to get one shot off against the Hornets as Savannah Country Day controlled the ball for much of the half.

The Blue Devils’ best  chance to score came with about 11 minutes remaining in the game when a cross into the penalty box found the hand of a Hornets’ defender, giving the Blue Devils a penalty kick to try to cut into the 4-0 deficit. 

Unfortunately for SHS, Keith Howard’s shot hit off the side of the post and ricocheted wide to keep the Blue Devils off the board.

Simonin said they will work on correcting the mistakes that they made such as positioning and communication as they prepare for Friday’s matchup against Southeast Bulloch.

“I thought the soccer was good tonight. Savannah County Day beat us in the little things and that ultimately won them the game,” he said.

Statesboro will be back in action Friday when they host SEB with the girls game starting at 5 p.m. and the boys game scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.