Demopolis soccer falls to Walker 3-2 in playoffs

Demopolis (13-4-1) saw its season come to a halt in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Wednesday night as Walker High pulled out a 3-2 victory.

“Walker attacked the ball with a gusto. They’re a very good ball program. They took advantage of every miscue we had because they were hustling,” Demopolis coach Brad Daniels said. “That last half (Demopolis players) played just as hard as they could. It was just miscues. I had the wrong people in the wrong place sometimes. I take full credit for that. These guys played their heart out. I’m proud of each and every one of them. They were just better than we were tonight.”

The Tigers unleashed two shots on goal in the final 71 seconds that narrowly missed. The offensive spurt followed a sequence in which Walker shanked a penalty kick effort with 3:09 to play.

“The last 10 minutes is what this soccer team can do,” Daniels said of his team. “This squad is that good. They waited a little too late to turn it on tonight.”

Adam Brooker pulled the Tigers to within a goal at the 24:11 mark when he dribbled through the Walker defense in a crowded box and connected on an unassisted attempt to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Walker scored the decisive third goal with 27:04 to play when Victorhugo Santana pushed up the right side and sent a shot across the face of the net and into the left pocket for the 3-1 advantage.

Demopolis trailed 2-1 with 33:19 left when Oscar Valdivia’s penalty kick attempt bounced off the hands of the Walker keeper.

Demopolis opened the scoring with 38:15 remaining in the first half when Austin Brooks scored an unassisted goal. With 22:28 before intermission, Julio Sebastian worked his way down the Demopolis goal line and tapped in a shot to tie the game.

James Archer III gave Walker a lead it would never lose with 16:47 left in the game’s opening period.

Walker moves on to face Pinson Valley Saturday.