DAPHNE, Ala.—The Daphne Middle School boys soccer team beat the Fairhope Pirates in a 4-1 finish at the county tournament last Thursday at Trione Park.

The fast-paced match played in heavy rain ended in a 1-1 draw before moving into double-overtime.

Single goals scored during regulation play were made by Drew D’Oliveira for Daphne and Welles Richardson for Fairhope. The match itself was decided by penalty kicks.

D’Oliveira, Levi Ehmka and Sam Seawell scored for the Trojans in the final shootout.  Daphne goalkeeper Will Carpenter defended against all three attempts by Fairhope.

Undefeated in two seasons, Fairhope was favored to win over second-seeded Daphne. In a near perfect game, the Trojans frustrated the Pirates’ usual high-scoring game.

“No one expected the game to be that close,” said Sergio D’Oiveira, who has volunteered as coach for the Daphne Middle School team since 2007.

“I had to put my high scorer, Levi Ehmka, in a defensive midfield position to try to stop Fairhope’s phenomenally talented mid-field, particularly Welles Richardson, who could easily start for any high school varsity team in the county right now,” D’Oliveira said.

In addition to Carpenter’s performance as Daphne goalkeeper, other players were pivotal to the Trojans’ win including Cody Wilson, Tyler Cox, Sam Seawell and Austin Ahern.

“It was a strong team effort every step of the way,” said Robert Murphy, Daphne Middle School coach.

“We’re extremely proud of our boys and happy to have this big win for Mr. D’Oliveira’s final game,” added Murphy.

Will Carpenter was named most valuable player; All-Tournament Team honors went to Rushing Watson, Welles Richardson, Levi Ehmka and Drew D’Oliveira.