For the fourth consecutive year the match between East Hall and Dawson County went beyond regulation time.

The game went into penalty kicks and the Tigers came out on the short end with the Vikings making four of their penalty kicks to Dawson County's three.

The 1-0 loss sends Dawson County into the No. 3-seed in Region 7-AAA as they enter the state Class AAA playoffs this week.

Coach Jed Lacey's team will make the trip to Jefferson to face No. 2-seed Jackson County of Region 8-AAA.

The game will be held at 6 p.m. May 1 at Jefferson High School.

The Panthers come into the game after a 2-1 overtime loss to Oconee County in the final game of the season.

Jackson County has a 7-5-2 overall record.

In the April 21 game against East Hall (12-5-1) the score was notched 0-0 at the end of regulation.

Junior keeper Ty Anglin, along with the Tigers defense, played great, according to Lacey.

The team kept the Vikings from scoring. It was Anglin's sixth shutout of the season.

The Dawson County defense did a great job of containing the leading scorer in the state in East Hall's Leo Toledo. Toledo has found the net 49 times for the Vikings this season.

The backline of Josh Sage, Timmy Moody, Dalton Edwards and David Velasquez, along with goalie Anglin, stymied the Vikings all evening.

"Our defense shut down everything that East Hall could throw at us offensively tonight," Lacey said. "East Hall got some shots off our keep Ty Anglin, but Ty did a great job scooping everything up with some really nice saves.

"It was a great game to go into the playoffs with," he added. "You won't see much better soccer than this."

The Tigers played short-handed for most of the contest.

Just before halftime, a senior midfielder was shown a red card that left Dawson County a man down.

"Our kids had to pick up the slack against one of the best teams in the state. Our players refused to give in and let one players mistake be an excuse to let down," Lacey said.

The Tigers have lost two overtime games against region champion West Hall and now region runner-up East Hall.

Lacey praised the play of outside midfielders Randy Schultz and
Jonathan Steele.

"These guys played from pole to pole. They don't get a lot of recognition because of the positions they play, but they were my heroes tonight having to work extra hard for us being down a man."

Lacey said in order for the team to make a deep run in the playoffs, the bench is going to have to step up.

"Going into the state playoffs we are going to have to go deeper into the bench and play some younger players to give us depth and be able to rest some the starters," Lacey said. "These guys have been waiting all year to show me they are ready."