DAPHNE, Alabama — The Daphne Trojans wrapped up a perfect 6-0 record in 6A Area 3 and also claimed the inaugural All-Metro Boys soccer crown Saturday with a 3-0 home win over Robertsdale at Jubilee Stadium. The Area 3 match and championship tournament match were set to be played separately, but Friday storms forced the combination contest Saturday.

The Golden Bears took the runner-up spot in the Baldwin-Mobile based All-Metro tourney which tested the best teams in both counties against each other. RHS also finished third in the Area 3 standings. Only the top two teams advance to the post season. Area runner-up Fairhope and Daphne will advance to the first sub-state round. Fairhope and Bayside were semifinalists in the double-bracketed All-Metro contest.

Levi Ehmka scored twice in the first half and Travis Purser added one in the second period for DHS. Terron Fleeton picked up the shutout in goal as the Trojans closed the regular season at 17-3-3 overall.

“Terron Fleeton was perfect with a great save in the first half,” said Daphne coach Rick Andrew. “For a kid who had never played soccer, he has come a long way since January. But obviously he’s done a great job for us the last three games with Will (Carpenter) out. Terron’s been playing well all year getting better and better. He’s a junior so we’ll be happy to have him back.”

Four year letterman, senior captain and starter Will Carpenter has been sidelined with an injured hand but should be back for the first playoff match. Daphne not only went 6-0 in Area 3, but won each of their six conference matches with a shutout. In all, they have blanked 15 regular-season opponents.

“One of the boys’ goals was to make it through the area without allowing a goal and they did it,” Andrew said. “I don’t remember the last time it happened around here, but this is always a tough area and it’s a pretty hard thing to do. Robertsdale has been on a roll, playing well. They area a very, very good team. I told the guys they were going to come after us with all they had and would not let up. They had nothing to lose and had a lot to gain to win this prestigious tournament and prove something. (Robertsdale) Coach (Brian) Daughtery always gets his guys prepared to execute and play smart soccer. We knew we had to keep the pressure up all the time and not give them too many opportunities, but they still found ways to get some good shots off.

“And it’s great, special, winning the first Metro Cup, too. The boys set that as a goal also and it a special thing, especially for the seniors to win the first one. They won’t get another shot at it.”

Ehmka was named Offensive MVP, Defensive MVP was Tyler Cook, and all tournament players from Daphne were Josh Gurvitz, Jordan Kenny and Sam Seawell.

Young RHS team impresses coach:  The Golden Bears coach Daughtery said his young team made a good run at the post season in a competitive area and proved their heart with their Metro Cup performance up to and through the final.

“Considering where we came from this year with just four seniors and a majority of young underclassmen players to start, I think we had a pretty good year. Didn’t have a lot of returning starters from last year either. We started three ninth graders and had three sophomores who started. So we have a good corps of experienced players coming back. The best thing is how they came together since the start of the year to build a solid team. They really learned how to play as a team, to lift each other up and help each other out. We wanted to make the playoffs of course and the guys worked hard but Daphne and Fairhope have good teams this year and we just came up a little short.

The Bears finished the season at 14-9-4.

“Still I think it’s a great testament to all their hard work that they made it to this tournament championship and the two teams that made it to the finals, Daphne and Robertsdale, are both from the same area,” Daughtery added. “And both are Baldwin County teams, I like that. So I couldn’t be more proud of this team and couldn’t ask for more from them or to have better ambassadors for Robertsdale High School and the Central Baldwin County community.”

Daphne keeper Carpenter coming back from injury: Carpenter, who has missed the last three games is ready to get back into action. “I’m good to go” he said. “The doctor and coach just want me to keep it covered and bandaged a little longer. But I’ll be ready. Terron did a great job filling in, had some big saves tonight. Good to know we have him to come in and handle pressure situations.”

500 wins for Rick Andrew:  Andrew also passed a major career milestone April 5 and did it against arch rival Fairhope with a 2-0 win to record his 500th career varsity victory. He coached the Pirates and Lady Pirates before coming to Daphne in the late 1990’s.

“Yeah, I had some very good teams at Fairhope,” he said. “And Fairhope contributed to some of those wins and it was a great, fun place to coach. But it’s also thanks to some good players here at Daphne through the years of course. And I started my high school coaching in Mannheim Germany and had some good winning seasons there. Really isn’t about me just been lucky enough to coach some kids that believed. It runs in the family I guess. My sister, Nicole Andrew Angel, is coaching a high school girls (soccer) team in Japan and they have a 17-1 record overall. Our father (Darry Andrew) was a football, basketball and soccer coach and a great mentor. We all kind of took after him. But I’ve also been fortunate to coach some great players at those schools and here who are just great people as well as athletes. And had a lot of support from my family, too. It’s a team effort for sure.”

Andrew has coached both girls and boys teams throughout his career, often both in the same season. Overall he has collected 244 girls team wins and now has 259 career boys wins winning three more since the 500 mark and the Metro Cup win to stand at 503-124-15 (80.2 percent wins) heading into the playoffs. His first varsity season as a head coach at Fairhope, he led the Lady Pirates to the 1998 state final four and led the Pirates to the final four in 1999.

He came to Daphne in 2000 and has continued to take teams to the semifinals. Andrew holds the unique distinction of being the only coach in Alabama to lead both a girls and a boys team to the final four in the same season in 2011.

The boys lost in the semis, but the girls advanced to the finals and finished the season as the 6A state runner up.

The Trojans will attempt to extend their winning record when they host Dothan Saturday at Jubilee Stadium at 6 p.m.