PICAYUNE – Two 10-minute overtimes and two 5-minutesudden-deaths were necessary before Picayune prevailed 5-4 overBrookhaven’s Lady Panthers Tuesday night in a muddy shootout.Midfielder Amy Hoover scored all four of Brookhaven’s goals in theopening round of the Class 5A state soccer playoffs.

“It was a heart-breaker,” said BHS coach Kevin Bower. “It wasenough to make you cry. Our girls fought really hard to win thatgame.”

The Lady Panthers took a 2-1 halftime lead on a pair of goals byHoover. The field was soaked by Monday’s rainfall and sand wasplaced on the field to improve the footing.

Goalkeeper Katie Grace Culpepper made 13 saves for BHS. She madetwo saves in the shootout.

With 8 minutes left to play in regulation, BHS held a 3-1 lead.Picayune scored the tying goal at the end of regulation.

In the two overtimes, each team scored one goal, making it 4-4.Neither team scored in sudden-death.

In the shootout, Hoover, Sarah Ayers and Lilly Montalvo scored forOle Book. Hoover finished with a school-record 36 goals.

“I knew the game would be pretty evenly matched,” said Bower. “Thewind was in our face the second half.”

Picayune advances to the next round, meeting the winner of Gautierand West Harrison. The Lady Panthers finish 8-9.

The McComb boys lost 6-0 to Picayune last night.