THOMASTON — The Griffin High Bears soccer team came very close to getting its first win of the season Wednesday night, but the visiting team couldn’t convert enough penalty kicks.

The Bears went into an extra session tied at 1-1, but it was the homestanding Upson-Lee Knights who outscored them in penalty kicks to win the match 2-1 in Region 4-AAAA action at Matthews Field.

Griffin falls to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in region play while Upson-Lee remains undefeated at 3-0, 1-0.

Griffin senior Silent Penn scored the Bears’ lone goal in regulation, getting the game-tying goal in the first half of the contest. Griffin did a great job of staying in the game on the road, with Bears keeper Jacob Feltman doing yeoman’s work on his end. Feltman, a senior, made several huge saves in the second half to keep the score tied. Both teams battled each other tooth and nail in the second half, but neither team could make any headway and the match remained tied at 1-all heading into penalty kicks.

Feltman was able to save Upson’s first penalty-kick shot, but he couldn’t save them all and Upson outscored Griffin 4-2 in PKs, allowing the Knights to win the match 2-1. In soccer, when one team outscores the other on penalty kicks, one point is added to the PK winner’s score from the end of regulation. Since the match was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, Upson gets the extra point for winning on PKs, therefore making the final score 2-1.

The Bears are back in action today at 8 a.m. when they play Class AA school Lamar County (0-2) in the finale of the Trojan Cup Tournament at the Barnesville Sports Complex. The Lady Bears will play at 10 a.m. in the same tournament against Class AAAAA school Northside-Warner Robins (0-2).