Brookwood boys down Deerfield in PKs after last-second score

THOMASVILLE — Five seconds.

That's all that stood between Brookwood's boys soccer team and yet another defeat against defending GISA Region 3-3A champion Deerfield-Windsor, a team that's been a thorn in the Warriors' side for the last few years.

Five measly seconds were on the clock in the second half against that dreaded squad at Warrior Field on Friday night. Down by one, Brookwood had one last chance on a corner kick to get the equalizer before time expired.

It got much more than that.

With a goal from Tyson Joyner with less than a second left, the Warriors threw the game into overtime and eventually into penalty kicks, where Preston Young netted the decisive goal to give Brookwood an improbable 3-2 victory.

"We knew we could do it," Brookwood soccer coach Eddie Foy said. "We knew we had the character. We just needed to show it together as a team. We work hard for each other in everything that we do, to show that character, to keep fighting to that final whistle.

"They're a good team. There's a reason why they've won the region the last couple of years. We're slowly closing that gap."

Brookwood and Deerfield were knotted up at 1-1 heading into the second half, but neither team could break through for most of the period. That changed with 13:33 left to play, when the Knights scored on a clean cross in front of the goal to take their one-point lead.

As the minutes passed, the situation grew more dire for the Warriors. With less than 30 seconds to go, Brookwood moved the ball into Deerfield's half of the field and caught a break at the left corner of the field — a yellow card foul on Deerfield to stop the clock at five seconds.

Young, a senior, was set to restart play after the penalty. He took a deep breath and sailed the ball towards the front of the net, where Joyner, a freshman, kicked the ball in off some bounces just before the buzzer sounded.

It wouldn't be the last time that Young would make a huge impact in the game. With two overtimes not being enough to declare a victor, the game went to penalty kicks. After made attempts from Tyler Clark, Emmett Miles and Marshall Jones, Brookwood was locked in a 3-3 tie in sudden death when Young stepped up to make his shot. He connected, and his teammates mobbed and carried him off the field on their shoulders.

"I love the pressure, it's what I thrive on," Young said. "I always like to go last and just finish it. Whether it's a win or a loss, it's all fun. At the end of the day, we're out here playing a game."

Jonathan Burns started scoring for the Warriors just nine minutes into the game. Deerfield tied the game at 1-1 with 15 minutes left until the dramatic second half of the game began.

"We have so many young kids on our team," Young said. "They all stepped up. This is a great experience for them going into state in the next coming weeks and I'm just proud of everyone. We poured our hearts and guts into it and we got the result we wanted."