GARDENDALE &8212; The Demopolis Tigers fell, 4-3, in their match Tuesday against Gardendale after going into a second shootout to decide the game.

In the two team&8217;s last game on the pitch, Gardendale came out early to score first off a lob over the head of goal Rachel Walker, but the Demopolis girls soccer team returned the favor scoring the next three in the first half and a fourth in the second. Tuesday&8217;s match would be a different story as neither team&8217;s offense could put the ball in the back of the net.

Keen said his team should have beaten their opponent like they did the last time the two met but penalties on the offense slowed the attack and thus impeded scoring. During play, the Tiger strikers and midfielders racked up six or seven offsides calls from the referee. Each offsides, a penalty called when an offensive player fails to have two defenders between themselves and their opponent&8217;s goal at the time the ball is kicked by a teammate, turned the possession of the ball over to Gardendale and robbed the team of any offensive momentum it had built.

Keen also noted the team had to shift around player positions for the game. He said one of the teams midfielders would be out for the group&8217;s first playoff game next week, so he decided play like the team would have to next Tuesday to help the group acclimate to their new roles.

After the refs blew the normal regulation 80-minute playing time with a nil-nil tie, both groups prepared for the shootout, which allowed each coach to pick five players from their team to shoot a penalty kick against their opponent&8217;s goalie. After the first round of shootouts the game remained tied, this time 3-3.

After coaches picked a second group of five, excluding the previous shootout group, a Demopolis miss on the first shot and Gardendale score ridded the teams of the need to continue and gave Gardendale the squeak-by win, 4-3.