Clear skies and crisp 60 degree air made for picture perfect weather for soccer between Bulloch County’s two largest high schools.
    The story going into Saturday’s match was a tale of two teams trending in different directions. Statesboro is undefeated since dropping their first game to Windsor Forest, while Southeast Bulloch started the season riddled with injuries and didn’t pick up their first win until this past Thursday.
    However, this is not what played out on the field.
    The Yellow Jackets threatened early on in the game, earning three corner kicks with the latter seeing the first quality shot on goal. SEB came out firing on their home turf —  a far cry from the limping team that debuted against Islands on Feb. 24.
    “We switched our defense today and it’s worked in slowing down the attack,” said SEB head coach Jonathan Graham. “Our problem now is transitioning from defense to offense.”
    However Statesboro would answer with four corners in a row — shifting the momentum in favor of the Blue Devils. Statesboro began peppering shots while holding possession in the SEB half of the field — including two on-target strikes by Jordan Host and Will Mackiewicz that forced saves by Max Muellner.
    SEB would get their next legitimate shot on goal off a free kick in the 27th minute, which saw a well-took shot by Andrew Cribbs saved by Statesboro keeper John Desiderio. After that set-piece Statesboro took back control of the possession for the rest of the have and forced three more corners in front of the Yellow Jackets goal.
    This finally led to the only goal of the game in favor of the Blue Devils in the 37th minute. After SEB had cleared a shot attempt, Statesboro passed the ball back outside of the box to Nash Welch — who wound back his right foot and fired away into the SEB defense.
    The ball would catch the leg of an unsuspecting SEB defender and ricochet into the left post for the Blue Devil’s 1-0 lead — a score that would stick for the rest of the game despite SEB’s best efforts.
    “We had a ton of chances even before that goal and I thought we were due for one good deflection,” said Statesboro head coach David Ball. “When I saw Nash get the ball about 30 yards out I said ‘hit it’.”
    The game seemingly had a turning point when Malik Prowell picked up his second yellow card in the game — turning into a red card and ejecting Prowell for the rest of the game. Now with ten players, things seemed prime for SEB to level the game 1-1.
    Cribbs nearly did so for SEB off a shot that deflected off the high post, but even with ten men Statesboro was still able to counter with a respectable attack. The Blue Devils would get off four more quality shots during the half, with three forcing saves by Muellner.
    SEB certainly had more chances to equalize too. In the 54th minute Evan Heidler squared up a free kick and scorched it right into the mits of Desiderio — who was playing a keeper in place of the injured starter Dylan Aultman.
    SEB’s last legit chance came on a counter attack attempt by Cribbs, who took one final heave in the 77th minute but would once again be saved by Desderio. Desderio finished with four saves, but would be outdone by Muellner’s seven despite the one deflection goal conceded.
    “I thought we had a lot of solid play in the back today, and we did a fantastic shot shutting them down defensively today,” Ball said.
    Statesboro would control 56 percent of the possession and put ten of their 16 shots on target, while SEB would put five of their seven shots on target.
    The Blue Devils (4-1-0) will play host to South Effingham Tuesday at 5:30 while SEB (1-3-1) will travel to Calvary Day the same day at 5:00.

Gutierrez shines to lead Lady Blue Devils to victory

 Before the boys game kicked off, Bulloch County soccer fans were treated to the earlier half of Saturday’s double header between Statesboro and Southeast Bulloch’s girls teams.
    However, what was supposed to be a game between two schools quickly became a duel between two pairs of players on both sides.
    Statesboro’s Isabel Gutierrez and Kaitlin Carter matched footballing wits with SEB’s Cole Robertson and Emily Barnard and put on a dazzling display in the process. Not to slight the other players on the two girls teams, but it became clear in the first ten minutes who the four best players on the field were.
    The four ladies would combine for all but two of the goals and assists on the afternoon — but above all it was Gutierrez who would shine the brightest for Statesboro.
    “Isabel really played one of her better games today, not just scoring but getting everyone else involved too,” said Statesboro head coach Brian Thomas. “She really stepped it up against a good Southeast team.”
    Not a minute after Madison Coleman was called for being offsides for SEB, Carter would take the ball back down towards SEB’s third and cross the ball over the face of goal to find an uncovered Gutierrez for an easy 1-0 start.
    However SEB was quick to answer. After missing on an earlier long pass to Barnard, Robertson would rebound to snipe a pass over the top of the defense to plop perfectly at the feet of the running Barnard — who’d strike a clean finish to make it a 1-1 game with only 11 minutes off the clock.
    “We’ve challenged Emily to be more aggressive and she’s responded very well,” said SEB head coach Kristin Barnhill. “She is our leading goal scorer for sure.”  
    But Gutierrez wasn’t done showcasing her talents to Brooklet yet. After a shot by Megan Judy went wide, Statesboro would come back with the ball and Gutierrez leading the way. Gutierrez would dribble the ball up the middle of the field and wedge a perfectly placed through ball in between two Yellow JAckets defenders to find a running Carter.
    Carter had the speed to separate herself from the SEB defense and slam home another goal for Statesboro to put her team ahead 2-1 in the 14th. Following the goal SEB started to go on the defensive and fell into a number of fouls — slowing the pace of the game down considerably from its earlier NASCAR pace.
    But this didn’t stop Gutierrez from taking matters into her own hands, as she’d take the ball past midfield between three SEB defenders on a run worthy of college looks — then matched the run with a college-worthy finish to put Statesboro up 3-1 in the 22nd minute. The goal was the junior’s fourth of the season, and if she stays healthy it certainly won’t be the last.
    The second half was slow to start, with only five shots in the first 16 minutes compared to three goals in the first 11 minutes of the first half. But Barnard would be there for SEB again to score a brace off a pass from Gracie Thompson — cutting the deficit in half for the home team. Now in the starting lineup, Barnard will look to be a more consistent offensive force for Barnhill’s side.
    However the 3-2 game would only last three minutes, as Smith Kaiser would put away the the finishing touches for The Blue Devils. Even after a better second half effort by SEB, it was the damage done by Gutierrez in the first half that would make the ultimate difference for SEB.
    “It’s a great game to have right before we have to start region play,” Thomas said. “I feel like we’re playing really well right now before we see South Effingham.”
    Statesboro (3-2-0) will host South Effingham next on Tuesday at 5:30 while SEB (2-3-0) will travel to Calvary Day the same day at 5:00.