TIFTON – On Friday, for the third time this season, the Colquitt County boys soccer team has gone into penalty kicks to determine the outcome of a game.
And twice, the opponent has been Region 1-6A opponent Tift County.
The Packers have come out on top all three times.
In Tifton on Friday, the Packers and Blue Devils battled to a 1-1 tie after regulation and each scored in overtime.
But Tift converted just four match-deciding penalty kicks.
The Packers converted five to get the win.
The victory raises the Colquitt boys’ record to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the region.
The Packers will try to get a fourth region win on Tuesday when they travel to Valdosta.
Colquitt defeated the Wildcats 4-2 when the two teams met on Feb. 18, at Packer Park.
Colquitt’s first win in penalty kicks came on Valentine’s Day over Thomas County Central at Packer Park.
A week later, again on their home pitch, the Packers took down the Blue Devils with penalty kicks.
On Friday in Tifton, the Packers took a lead on a goal by Bryan Ortiz with 23:53 remaining in the first half.
Three minutes later, Tift’s Brock Harden tied it.
Neither team scored in the second half nor in the first 10-minute overtime period.
With 4:42 left in the second overtime period, Yonathan Villeda got loose in front of the Blue Devils net and punched it in to give the Packers a 2-1 lead.
But with 1:13 remaining, Tift’s Raul Castillo headed a corner kick into the Packers net to tie the game again.
Tift County went first in PKs and got successful shots from Caesar Angeles, Cristian Salazar, Omar Acosta and Brock Harden.
Colquitt County converted all five of its attempts on shots by Joshua Ramirez, Bryan Ortiz, Uziel Garcia-Diaz, Turner Brice McDaniel and Alex Aviles.
After the game at Valdosta on Tuesday, Colquitt County will return to Packer Park to face Cairo on Friday, March 13.