Just three days removed from one of its biggest wins in school history – a 1-0 win over Warner Robins in overtime – Northside’s girls soccer team was unable to duplicate that against Houston County.

The Lady Eagles lost 2-1. They were down 1-0 at the half and 2-0 with about 23 minutes left to play when junior Taylor Poole scored.

“She almost scored the tying goal 15 seconds later,” said Northside Head Coach Ryan Burkhart whose squad fell to 3-3-0. They remained 1-0-0 in 1-AAAA. “But the HoCo keeper made a good save.” The Lady Bears improved to 3-1-0, with no conference games yet.

“She was definitely our standout on offense yesterday. She was playing hard and putting a lot of pressure on the Hoco defenders. We played really well for the last 20 minutes, and even though we had several attempts, couldn’t get the equalizing goal.” Burkhart added the Lady Eagles came out “very flat.”

“I was a little worried after a big win on Friday against WRHS,” he said. “And it looked like it took most of the game for the girls to get into this one mentally. We didn’t play the game that we are capable of playing. As much as I hate losing a close game like that, I’m glad we still have our region game against them later this month ... Looking forward to the challenge of playing better.”

On the boys’ side … well, at least the scoreboard didn’t reflect the fight. Houston County won 9-0 to improve to 4-0-0. Northside fell to 1-5-0.

The Bears led at the half 4-0. Andrew Weber via an “outstanding assist” from midfielder Everick Little - as described Head Coach Jason Kirk – put Houston County on the board to start. That came in the third minute of play. Five minutes later Tim O’Donnell scored the first of his three hat trick goals. That was finished off after taking an “exceptional” pass from Patrick Braxton, Kirk said.

Braxton also had the hat trick, making the first of his three goals following. That was followed by O’Donnell’s second.

Braxton added his other two in the second half. Weber and O’Donnell each hit one and Dylan Baughman made another. He converted his on a penalty kick.

“The midfield controlled the attack throughout this evening,” Kirk said, “with lightning passes hitting the mark, as both Colin Little and E. Little notched multiple assists.

“Once again the Bears played a smothering defense led by centerback EZ Morales and supported by excellent play off the bench from outside back Dylan Krimmer. The one good chance Northside had on this night was turned away by an outstanding save from senior keeper Steven Robertson.

Kirk added this was the "best all-around game we have played." He also reiterated to the team the goal was "not only to win games, but to continue to do the right things to improve with each game."

Elsewhere, Perry’s boys beat Central 5-1 to improve to 4-1-0, 1-0-0. There was no word on how the Lady Panthers fared.