The goal for the young Bulloch Academy girls' soccer team was to simply be better than the previous game.
    Head coach Matthew Meeks doesn’t kid himself when there isn’t a single senior on his roster and a majority of the girls on the pitch can’t drive themselves to practice. Nevertheless, the ladies did improve from the last time they played Trinity-Dublin.
    After losing to Trinity 2-0 less than a week ago, BA saw itself down 2-0 in the first five minutes of Tuesday night's matchup. The Knights scored off of two early counter attacks to beat the defense down the field for one-on-one goals.
    “We gave up some silly goals early but that’s what happens when you’re young,” Meeks said. “These are the kind of games we need to play if we want to keep improving.” 
    However, the improvement desired by Meeks shined through in the first half. The offense — run through Maddie Cowart — looked more fluid and communicated well against a much more experienced Trinity side.
    Those efforts paid off on a goal by Sam Joiner — the first for BA this season — on a rebound after her initial shot hit the post. The goal would spur the offense forward as BA started to control possession of the game more and more headed towards halftime.
    Then, in the 32nd minute, a handball in the box by Trinity allowed for a penalty kick for Cowart, who faked out the keeper by knocking a slow dribbler to the left post to knot things up at 2-2. The first 40 minutes alone looked like a new BA team in the eyes of their coach.
    “I switched some girls around after watching them at practice and it looks like it’s playing off,” Meeks said. “We had the shots all game and eventually we had some fall for us.”
    However their youth started to expose itself in the latter 40 minutes when fatigue set in and the defense began to break down. Just five minutes into second half, Trinity went ahead on a looping shot over the arms of the keeper before finally put things out of reach with a kill shot that hit the crossbar and ricocheted down across the goal line.
    The two goals stand as the first two scored by BA in what was just their third game of the season. Meeks is confident his girls can keep the offense growing as the season goes along.
    “If we keep along at this pace I think we’ll be more than okay,” Meeks said. “We didn’t get our first win last season until about four weeks in.”
    Bulloch (0-3-0, 0-2) will travel to John Milledge for the next game on Thursday with first kick set for 4:30 p.m.

Bulloch Academy 5,         TCS, Dublin 4
    It took nearly an hour of game time for Bulloch Academy to get their offense rolling, but when it finally did, it provided the same thrills fan saw in the boys debut a week ago.
    Bulloch — which scored six goals in the team’s opening game against the Coastal Homeschool Team — was shutout 2-0 by Trinity Dublin in its second game last Thursday. It stood as a departure from the free-wheeling style of soccer the boys are set up to play.
    For a moment it looked as if the Knights were going to repeat their result from last week when they scored their first goal with just 15 seconds off the clock and went on to dominate most of the first half — adding another goal in the 36th minute to lead 2-0 after the first 40 minutes.
    “It was the same look we saw at their place,” Meeks said. “They would play all of their guys back and they kept up from scoring, while capitalizing a couple of times on their own.”
    However it didn’t take long for the Gators offense to wake up come after the whistle blew to start the second half. Grant Williams helped open things up when he found Stephen Zeng on a pass across the face of goal to let Zeng pound in to cut the deficit in half.
    Trinity would respond with a goal of their own merely five minutes later, then Seth Brant would cut the deficit again on a shot right in front of the goal. From that moment on BA looked more like the seven-seconds or less Gators from their debut rather than the ones who were held scoreless last Thursday.
    The equalizer came off the foot of Jack Fortune, whose speed allowed him to gallop down the sideline without a defender being able to catch up or body up. Fortune would weave his way into the box and strike the ball past the keeper to level the score at 3-3.
    “We finally started to use our speed to get around diagonally on them” Meeks said. “The shots started falling for us and the team really started to cling to the seniors.”
    Not a minute later Brant would come back around to score again for not just his own brace but to put the Gators ahead 4-3. BA would continue to hold their lead and possession with momentum on their side -- as their first win of the season hung in the balance.
    That win looked to slip away when Trinity scored in the 72nd minute to find their way right back into the game at 4-4 -- but BA still wasn’t done scoring. After assisting on two goals, Williams brought the game home for BA with a strike in the 76th minute to pull the Gators ahead 5-4 for good.
    The win wasn’t just BA’s first of the season but their first region win of the year as well.
    “This sets us up so that we’re still controlling our own destiny,” Meeks said. “We’re not just competing for third anymore, we have a chance to steal second.”
    Bulloch Academy (1-2-0) will hit the road to John Milledge Thursday for their next game at 6:30 p.m.