By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

GUYTON – South Effingham’s boys began chanting, “PK, PK” before their soccer game against Glynn Academy on March 25 went to its last resort.

“We knew we could make 10 (penalty kicks) in a row if we had to,” Mustangs coach DaKota Paradice said. “We wanted to get in (Glynn’s) heads early.”

South didn’t make 10 in a row, but six out of seven did the trick to end a thrilling 2-2, 6-5 shootout victory over the Red Terrors at the Corral.

Adam Alonso converted the game-winner after Glynn’s shooter hit the goal post.

It was one of the Mustangs’ biggest wins under Paradice. SEHS lost 10 of the previous 11 meetings with Glynn, including 3-0 this season.

The Mustangs fell to the Terrors 4-1 and 5-1 last season when SEHS posted a school-record 15 victories.

“This is just a buy-in from our young guys,” Paradice said. “We knew if we could do what we’re capable of doing and keep our mouths shut, we could compete. That was our problem last year. We didn’t know when to shut up and we’d get pulled out of the game.”

This time, the Mustangs (9-2) didn’t blink or open their mouths. Kirill Stavenchuk had the team’s first-half goal and Jude Rowe added a penalty kick to put South ahead 2-1 with 10:43 to go after Ronan Mock was pulled down in the penalty box.

Glynn evened the match with 7:53 to go on a penalty kick by Oliver Van Boxel.

The Mustangs had a 4-1 shot advantage in the two overtimes and appeared to have the game-winner in the first overtime after a corner kick led to a wild scramble in front of the net but officials ruled the ball never crossed the goal line.

It just set the stage for a tense shootout as a long night grew longer. Both teams made 4-of-5 penalty kicks in the first round, setting up a sudden-death finish.

“We felt confident because we’ve been working on penalty kicks in practice, lining up 5 against 5 and there’s consequences for the loser,” Paradice said. “We’ve been preparing for this.

“It took a whole team effort. Demari (Chermely) made great saves. All across the back line, they made good clearances and good challenges. The midfield made plays and all three strikers that got in competed. All three phases did their job.”

The victory was a boost of confidence for the ever-improving Mustangs with the Region 1-5A tournament looming. SEHS, the No. 2 seed from the South subregion, will host North subregion No. 3 seed Greenbrier (8-4) in the first round on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The Mustangs have won six games in a row. They play a non-region contest at home against Long County on Wednesday.

In other boys first-round region tournament matchups, Effingham County will travel to Glynn Academy. Statesboro is at Lakeside and Bradwell Institute will visit North champion Evans.

Brunswick, a school that gave SEHS fits (the Mustangs won 2-1 and 1-0), is the odd team out of the playoffs after going 0-8 in subregion play.

Earlier on Tuesday night, South’s girls gave a great effort before falling to subregion champion Glynn Academy 1-0 in double overtime.