The DeKalb Middle School Saints ended an impressive first season last weekend, playing in the district tournament at the Cookeville Soccer Complex in Putnam County. With students that had never played in a "school" soccer program before, the team ended at third place in the conference, with a record of 11-2.
On May 2, the Saints traveled to Cookeville to participate in the semi-final round of the district tournament, taking on a tough team from Algood. The match would turn out to be a low-scoring battle, with strong defense on both sides of the field.
The Saints would take a total of 35 shots at the goal, while Goalkeeper Omar Aldino had 10 saves on the night. Alec Reynolds would find the net for the one and only score for DeKalb.
Algood scored one of their own, and the game was tied until the last 13 minutes of play. It was then that a controversial call lead to a penalty kick. The kick set up a goal that would end up being the winning point for Algood. The Saints made several attempts to tie the game, but time was not on their side. The Saints fell, 2-1.
The following day, the Saints were on the field again, this time taking on Prescott for the third and fourth place spots in the championship. This time DeKalb’s muscle showed on the field, defeating their opponent, 6-0.
Reynolds and Luis Hernandez each had two goals in the game, while Dylan Easterwood and Cristobal Flores each had one. The Saints had 30 shots in the game, and goalkeeper Aldino had five saves.
"As this is our first season, I was very impressed with the way our team fought hard this season," Head Coach Justin Nokes told the Review.  "Although we bid farewell to some very talented eighth graders, the future of DMS soccer looks great. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for us and our teams in the near future."
"It was hard to lose a heartbreaker like Friday night," Assistant Coach Wesley Burchfield said. "This season though, the team has used the underdog attitude to their advantage and surprised everyone. With it being our first season, the team showed that great things can be done when they came together as a team, and never gave up.”