MONTGOMERY – Fort Dale Academy’s hopes of claiming the school’s first state championship in soccer ended in a shootout Saturday at the AISA state soccer tournament at Emory Folmar YMCA Complex in Montgomery.

The Eagles and Coosa Valley finished regulation tied at 1 goal apiece. After neither team was able to score in overtime, the contest went to a shootout that saw both teams net four goals forcing the match into a sudden death shootout.

On the third kick of the sudden death shootout, the Rebels found the net, while Fort Dale was held scoreless.

“It’s tough to lose a game like that, but I am proud of the way my guys competed,” Fort Dale head coach Bert Rice said. “This team gave everything they had and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Brandon Brown scored the Eagles’ lone goal in regulation on a penalty kick.

In the first shootout Brown, Cole Davis, Jun Lee, Dow Gardner and Taylor Windham each scored.

The Eagles finished the season with a 12-3 mark and advanced past the first round of the postseason for the first time in the program’s three-year history.

“We had a great season,” Rice said. “Of course the team wanted to win a championship, and we got mighty close, but we came up just a little short. The accomplishments of this team are still remarkable. These guys won the region, played for a state championship and finished up with a record of 12-3 with two of those losses coming in shootouts and the other by a score of 1-0. I don’t need a championship trophy to know that these guys are winners. I am satisfied with the success we had this season and I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach them.”

The Eagles advanced to the title game with a 3-1 win over Macon-East Montgomery Academy Friday.

Brown, Lee and Jake Gillem each scored in the win.

Brown, Windham and Gardner were named to the all-tournament team.