THOMASVILLE – The Thomasville Bulldogs boys and girls dominated their season opener on Tuesday night. The Lady Bulldogs secured a 10-0 win over Valdosta, while the boy’s team defeated the Wildcats 4-2.

The Lady Bulldogs got the night off to a near-perfect start with seven different goal scorers helping Thomasville to a 10-0 win. Caroline Sanders led the squad with a hat trick, while Kyley Peterson netted two goals of her own. Campbell Newman, Sadie Kate Scarbrough, Sara Sullivan Cone, Emma Reichert, and Meava Henderson all scored a goal in the game.

“It was a good game. A good way to open the season,” said Thomasville girls head coach Lucas Kimmel. “We definitely have to continue working on some of our passes and controlling our touch. Against a better team, it would hurt us a little bit more if those touches don’t get cleaned up.”

When asked if anything surprised him during the 10-goal beat down, Kimmel mentioned the joy that the girls played with.

“How much they enjoyed it,” said Kimmel. “After a few weeks of pre-season and a pre-season scrimmage, it’s still a lot of fun to play soccer.”

The boys game was a bit closer, with the Bulldogs earning a hard-fought 4-2 victory. 

“It’s a good first game, good first step,“ said head coach Robert Peterson. “I thought we did a lot of things well, but I thought we had a lot to work on.”
Thomasville went up early as captain Gio Ulloa put the first goal of the season in the back of the net, followed by an excellent goal from Farid Goinzalez. The Bulldogs would take that 2-0 lead into halftime of a game that felt well within their control. 

However, the Wildcats fought back, scoring a pair of goals in the second half. The Bulldogs rallied and proved to be too much for Valdosta as Ulloa took over and netted two more goals for the hat trick and the victory.

“Give our boys credit for going up and giving up a lead and then having the mental fortitude to come back and gain control of the game again and get a couple goals for the win,” Peterson said.

Next, the Bulldogs will face cross-town rival Thomas County Central as the Rose City Rumble hits the pitch. The game will take place at Thomas County Central on February 18.