FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Flowery Branch boys soccer team nailed all four penalty kicks to knock off Clarke Central 3-2 in PKs in their Region 8-5A opener at Falcon Field on Friday.
In a back-and-forth battle that ended 0-0 at the half, the Gladiators (6-2, 0-1) scored early in the second half to go up 1-0.
Later in the second half, after Tiago Zapata was fouled, Mario Rodriguez tied the game, 1-1.
In overtime, sophomore Keita Kikuchi scored the go-ahead goal, giving Flowery Branch (2-2, 1-0) a 2-1 advantage, but Clarke Central would answer in the second half of overtime.
Marco Velasquez, Kikuchi, Nico Molina and Rodriguez hit all four of the penalty kicks, and Cristian Guerra saved two of Clarke Centrals penalties to win the game.
EAST HALL 5,
MADISON COUNTY 0
The Class 4A fifth-ranked Vikings won their fourth straight match and opened up Region 8-4A play with an impressive win at East Hall Stadium on Friday.
David Loza broke loose for 4 goals on the night, the first coming less than 1 minute into the game off a Yerli Mejia assist. He scored again just five minutes later off a pass from Javier Sanchez and completed the first half hat trick in the 25th minute getting a feed from Oscar Barcenas.
Yerli Mejia added a goal in the 28th minute to make it 4-0 going into halftime. Loza finished the scoring just three minutes into the second half.
Kenny Barrera, Wilber Bernal, and Alex Perez all combined for the shutout in goal.
The Vikings (4-1, 1-0 Region 8-4A) next will travel to North Oconee on Tuesday in another region showdown.
GAINESVILLE 3,
NORTH FORSYTH 1
The Class 6A fourth-ranked Red Elephants took a solid Region 8-6A road win in Coal Mountain on Friday.
Gainesville (5-1, 2-0 Region 8-6A) is the only beaten team left in region play after the opening week.
Gainesville got goals from Daniel Solis and Yefri Velasquez on assists from Hector Aguilar and Daniel Galaviz. Miguel Galaviz added a goal on a beautiful 30-yard volley from a defender clearance.
Wilberth Orellana got the win in goal.
The Red Elephants will play host to Shiloh on Tuesday in region play. North Forsyth (2-4, 1-1 Region 8-6A) will travel to Jackson County on Tuesday in region action as well.
JOHNSON 4,
MEADOWCREEK 0
Edgar Vazquez, Jorge Sandoval and Ramon Aguilar combined to score all four goals en route to the win over Meadowcreek on Friday at home.
Aguilar chipped in two goals, while Andres Galicia and Sandoval has one assist each.
