TIFTON — Tift County’s soccer teams each won two our of three matches last week. The Lady Devils and Blue Devils swept Northside and Valdosta, but fell against Veterans.

Tift teams won a pair of games at Northside of Warner Robins Feb. 21. The boys won 3-2 after overtime and penalty kicks. The girls earned a 3-1 victory. Both teams improved to 3-2-1 on the season.

Lady Devils head coach Sherri Constable said her team played well. “Overall, I was pleased,” she said. “We played hard and it paid off in the end.”

Constable’s rallying cry is that Northside will be the first of three wins during the week. They are to play at Veterans Feb. 23 and at Valdosta Feb. 24.

“It was a thriller,” said head coach Bobby Earls of the Blue Devils’ victory. He said they battled back in the contest. Tift made all five of its penalty kicks in the extra session. Northside missed its first attempt, so the Devils’ final goal had no response.

On Friday, Feb. 24, both squads improved to 4-3-1 with victories at Valdosta.

The Lady Devils won a 4-0 final, with the Blue Devils earning a 3-1 win.

Earls said he is watching everything begin to click for his team. “We’re making progress,” he said. “We’re playing better.”

Goals came from Cristian Salazar, Talon Sparks and Anthony Palomares, the first of the season for all three.

Mike Taylor played an outstanding game in net. Earls said he had to miss some time after being upended but recovered to finish out the night. Among his saves was a a diving attempt to his left to stop a penalty kick. Had it gone in, Valdosta would have closed the margin to 3-2.

“Right now he’s our shepherd,” said Earls. Taylor’s a leader off the field as well, meeting with teammates to provide guidance.

Kim Sanchez scored twice for the Lady Devils, with Kiondria Haggins and Laura Kate Wright netting the other goals, according to Constable.

Diana Reducindo was rarely tested in goal.

“We dominated play but didn’t finish well,” Constable conceded. She said the score could have been much higher for Tift.

Tift rebounds from a pair of shutout losses in Thursday night games to Veterans. Valdosta was their third match of the week after the Devils and Lady Devils swept region matches at Northside.