But if a tie is like kissing your sister, it’s still not as bad as losing to your little brother.

Crestview scored twice in a three-minute span late in the second half to pull out a 2-2 tie.

Freeport found the nets first with 28:10 left in the first half. The visitors were at it again with a goal at the 12:30 mark in the half.

And then the defenses took over as the cold night seemed to grow colder with each passing moment without a score.

As the clock ticked under 10 minutes left in the match, the Bulldogs hit either frantic mode or panic mode. Whatever it was, the Crestview offense suddenly found a flow.

With 7:20 left in the match, Cooper Chanley scored for Crestview to cut the Freeport lead in half.

Crestview salvaged the tie when Josh Daynus scored from just in front of the net with 4:10 showing on the clock.

“I just saw an opportunity,” Daynus said of his late score.

Crestview coach Scottie Milton was hard pressed to offer an explanation as to why it took the Bulldogs so long to find their offense.

“They played with that desperation at the end,” he said. “They don’t play with that desperation the full time.”

Crestview was so dominant that the match was called at the end of the first half on the mercy rule.

The host Lady Bulldogs scored early and, as the final score indicates, often.

Mary Richard led the way with three goals, turning the hat trick for the second consecutive match. Lauri Scott and Tahlia Brooks each scored twice. Yasmin Castillo and Gabby Pfaff scored the other Crestview goals.

Richard credited, at least in part, the cold temperatures to the quick start and finish.

“We played in the cold the last few days and it was not fun,” she said. “We wanted to get in and out real quick and we just wanted to find quick passes.

“I think our offense has gotten a lot better and we are figuring out how to finish.”

Crestview’s first score came less with 36:14 left in the half on a goal by Scott. Richard scored the first of her three goals at the 30:51 mark. Castillo scored with 22:39 showing on the clock at Jack Foster Stadium.

Freeport scored its lone goal at the 20:39 mark.

Crestview went almost seven minutes without scoring before Scott scored her second goal with 15:50 showing on the clock. Scott’s goal opened the proverbial floodgates as Crestview scored six times in the next 15 minutes to finish off the win.

Pfaff scored with 10:23 left.

Brooks scored followed by the second and third Richard goals. Brooks finished things off with 44 seconds showing on the clock.

In a match moved up to 5 p.m. from 7 p.m. because of the cold weather, the dynamic duo accounted for all of Crestview’s scoring in a 5-1 win over the Lady Panthers.

Richard did the damage in the first half scoring less than two minutes into the contest at the 38:39 mark in the first half. She was at it again three minutes later scoring with just a little more than 35 minutes left in the first half.

The first two goals by Richard would be all Crestview needed for the win.

Milton scored its only goal of the night with 30:11 left in the half.

The rest of the night belonged to the Lady Bulldogs. Richard finished off her hat trick scoring her third goal of the match on a free kick with 29:39 left in the half.

After a frantic first 10 minutes of scoring the respective defenses took over.

It was almost another 40 minutes, at the 21:10 mark in the second half, that Brooks scored the first of her two goals. She finished out the scoring with a goal with 2:22 showing on the clock.

Last month the Lady Bulldogs led Milton 2-0 but couldn’t finish the Lady Panthers off and the match ended in a 2-2 tie. Crestview coach Christian Estrada was happy to see his team play a complete match for the win.

“What I like about today is we actually played as a team after the break passing the ball and communicating,” he said.  

A midfielder for the Lady Bulldogs, Richard enjoys the flow of a soccer match as teams quickly move from offense to defense.

“I like the fast pace of the game and the transition from defense to offense is fun,” she said.

Richard doesn’t feel any pressure coming from a soccer family. Instead, she relishes beating her younger brother, Jackson.

Richard is comfortable in her role on the team, whether she is asked to score or to set other players up.

“I definitely feel the strength of my game is facilitating the ball through the middle and just finding my teammates with quick passes,” she said.

Lady Bulldog coach Christian Estrada offers the highest praise possible for Richard.

“She’s a scrapper,” he said. “She fights. What I like about Mary is she scores down, scores up. She’s the same. She’s always fighting, so a lot of people look up to her as a role model.”

If Estrada has one critique of Richard’s game it would be the same he has for a lot of players. And that is they trust their ability to use both feet more.

“She has a left foot at the same time we’re basically developing the right one,” Estrada said. “She could use it (her right foot). She’s done it every now and then. But she could use both legs and well we’ve got other players like that too.”

Richards knows her game is still a work in progress, and she has seen her own growth as she is now in her third season of high school soccer.

“Probably my biggest improvement is just knowing when to dribble and when not to just not be selfish,” she said.

Coming off a tough 5-2 loss to powerhouse Mosley, Richard remained upbeat about the season ahead.

“I think we’re definitely on track to do very well the rest of the season,” she said. “We’ve gotten better already.”

The Indians scored a goal with about six minutes left in the first half and then held on for dear life hoping for the win.

That win was not to be though as Brayden Allen found the net for the Bulldogs with about 10 minutes left in the second half as the teams played to a 1-1 tie.

Defense ruled the day on both sides of the field as neither team had many shots on goal as even getting near the net was difficult as best.

Crestview coach Scottie Milton was said it was important for the Bulldogs to see the fruit of their labors.

“They just needed to see that when you put in the hard work and discipline you get rewarded,” he said. “I can’t preach that enough. Discipline and hard work helps you go a long way.”

Allen admitted to feeling some nerves as he approached the game-tying shot.

“I was a little nervous,” he said. “I’m not going to lie. I just saw it (the opening for the shot) and had to go for it.

“I was looking at a corner of the goal and was able to get it in.”

Reyes won’t be idle in the next few months as he awaits the start of his college career. His summer will be filled with soccer locally and across the Southeast.

“I actually just started playing with PFC (Pensacola Football Club),” Reyes said. “They have a semi-pro team, and they also have a U-19 (under 19) team and I’m training with them this summer. We have few games so I’m training with them this summer.

“I’m also going to South Carolina in a couple of weeks to play with a team out of Auburn in the President’s Cup.”

Reyes didn’t really start to work on the craft of soccer until late in middle school.

“Up until about eighth grade I never took it (soccer) that seriously,” he said. “I was just kind of playing rec (recreation). And then my coach at the high school (Scottie Milton) started coaching my age group for travel and he asked me if I wanted to come try out. That kind of sparked my interest to play more competitively and I started playing travel ball.”

Reyes tried baseball and t-ball when he was younger, but soccer was the sport that seemed to come the most naturally to him.

Any serious athlete will tell you winning is the best thing about playing their sport and Reyes is no exception.

“The most exciting thing is just winning tournaments on the teams I play with,” he said. “Although we didn’t win at the high school that often, when we won close games, it meant a lot.

“And then it would be scoring. I play defense so I don’t get to score a lot.”

Having toiled as a defender, Reyes takes pride in his ability to shut down other players. Especially those that come across as being cocky.

His best memories of his days as a Crestview Bulldog are those of the team hanging out in the locker room before a game listening to music.

Reyes isn’t offended by the thought that soccer takes a back seat to baseball, football and basketball in this area.

“I would say it’s overlooked a lot in our area, but I think it’s starting to become a big thing nation-wide just because of the World Cup,” he said. “I know there are a lot of people that don’t know the sport of soccer, but they are getting involved with the World Cup.”

Reyes hopes he will be able to get in top shape this summer as he plays with the various teams, which will enable him to better compete for playing time when he gets to Holmes.

If all goes as planned, Holmes will be a springboard to the next step in the soccer journey for Reyes.

“I’m going to Holmes just for two years to try and develop as a player a lot and gain some strength and get some minutes in (on the field),” he said. “And then, hopefully, transfer off to somewhere bigger and better.”