It was a foregone conclusion it was going to make the state playoffs but Bryan County’s girls soccer team made it official Tuesday night with a 1-0 win at Woodville-Tompkins.

Reese Raeburn’s goal in the second half proved to be all the Redskins needed to clinch a spot in the Class A-DI playoffs for the second straight year. Raeburn scored with 14 minutes left and her goal came off an assist by Addie Longino.

Skylar Lee preserved, with help from a packed in defense, the win as she came up with eight saves in goal. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Redskins (6-5-1, 4-2) and enabled them to tie the 10-year-old program’s single season win mark. With six games remaining that will no doubt be broken.

The win over the Wolverines also kept Bryan County in contention for the Region 3A-D1 championship as it is in second-place one game behind Metter (6-3, 4-1). The Redskins will host the Tigers on March 22 and in their other remaining region game they will take on Claxton (6-3-1, 3-2), also at home.

Going into the game with Woodville the Redskins were coming off losses to Portal, ranked No. 3 in the state Class A-DII by the AJC and to Screven on Monday night. The Gamecocks are ranked No. 7 in this week’s statewide rankings.

The 6-1 loss to Screven was especially disappointing as the Gamecocks (6-3, 2-3) broke it wide open in the second half. Leading 1-0 at the half Screven scored off a corner kick with 29:46 left to play and five minutes later made it 3-0.

Coach Terry Markovic’s team pushed the lead to 5-0 and that was simply too much for the offensively challenged Redskins to overcome. Bryan County had beaten Screven, 1-0, earlier in the year.

“We didn’t play that well,” said Markovic, who is in his 41st year of coaching. “But they had a lot to do with that. Coach (Kristen) Barnhill has them playing really well. What they’ve done in the last two years is a credit to her and those kids. They’ve come a long way. They’re not an automatic (win) anymore.”

Liz Harvey had the Redskins’ lone goal against Screven as she scored on a penalty kick with 9:40 left to play. Harvey, limited somewhat in mobility due to a knee injury suffered in basketball. Just missed on two other earlier scoring opportunities which could have impacted the game.

So, that loss made the game with Woodville a must win game, Barnhill said, and her team showed its grit in that it buckled down and got the job done.

“It’s getting tough,” Barnhill said after the Screven game. “For us to stay in the hunt, to stay out of fourth-place and avoid East Laurens in the first round of the state playoffs we’ve got to beat Woodville. That would keep us two-three (place) going forward.”

Barnhill got what she wanted and what her team needed thanks to Raeburn’s goal and the play of a defense which for the most part has been solid all season.

East Laurens (12-0) is currently ranked No. 4 in the state and has the Region 2 race locked up. It will play the No. 4 seed out of Region 3 in the first round of the state playoffs. One of its wins came against Bryan County, 6-0, early in the season.

Bryan County’s current status is a reflection of the continuing growth of a moribund program Barnhill took over three years ago and is turning around at a school where soccer has been an afterthought.

The Redskins roster shows four seniors, none of whom had played soccer before middle school which has put them behind teams such as Screven, Metter and Claxton where players typically start playing soccer as young as four years old.

“We pick the game up when we’re 12 or so,” Barnhill said. “It’s no one’s main sport. Most of these kids play something else. They’re (Claxton, Metter, Screven, etc.) thinking soccer year-round. That’s not us right now but we’re getting some things turned around.”

The Redskins will now get a much needed rest to let some injured players heal as they don’t play again until March 22 against Metter.