The Dawson Co. High Tigers soccer team’s early season challenges continued to mount as they dropped a tough game Tuesday, Feb. 25, in Dawsonville, against the Pickens Dragons by a final score of 6-2. In addition to a difficult schedule that has had the Tigers facing high-caliber competition, the team is now battling both illness and injury according to head coach Patrick Muenchen.

“Our starting keeper had a concussion, he’s out indefinitely. Our second keeper is dealing with a throat virus, he was out too, so we actually pulled a guy that hasn’t played keeper since last year,” Muenchen said. “They still need some experience back there, so we probably lost two goals to that.”

The Dragons opened the scoring almost immediately when Juan Sanchez, one of the top-ranked high school players in the state, broke free on the far side of the field for a one-on-one challenge with freshman keeper Austin Corn in the eighth minute of play.

Three minutes later, another defensive breakdown allowed Pickens forward Carter Lindsey into the backfield unopposed and the Dragons were up by two in the first 10 minutes of action.

After the initial flurry of scoring, the Tigers settled into an attacking style of play, with junior Caleb Bonesteel sending the ball deep into Pickens territory while forwards Jose Sandoval, Blake Frazier, and team captain Michael Velasquez applied pressure on the net.

The strategy paid off when the trio connected on a series of passes and a shot from Frazier to cut the lead in half with 16:51 remaining in the first half.

1-2-3, Tigers! The Dawson Co. soccer team breaks their huddle Feb. 25 prior to the game against Pickens.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys on the team this year,” Velasquez said. “Games like this will definitely give them experience and help them get better as we move into regional play.”

Moments later, a rapid transition by the Dragons caught the Tigers flat-footed and Sanchez broke free for a second time to push the score back to 3-1 in the 27th minute. The Dragons found the goal again with less than five minutes remaining in the half to head into the break with a 4-1 lead.

Dawson Co. found themselves further behind in the first minutes of the second half as the Dragons scored their fifth goal of the contest on the opening possession.

Despite trailing 5-1, the Tigers fought hard to move the ball downfield and Velasquez cut into the lead with a precise back post shot in the 58th to spark a long string of opportunities for the Dawson Co. offense.

“We had more offensive opportunities in this game then we’ve had in the past,” Muenchen said. “A couple of missed opportunities right in front of the goal, but I’m proud of the guys for moving it forward and start to work on our offense.”

The Tigers soccer team will make a brief, one-game road trip to face the Calhoun Yellow Jackets on Friday, Feb. 28, before returning home to host the Cherokee Bluff Bears in their first regional contest March 3.