SNELLVILLE – For 71 minutes, South Forsyth boys’ soccer held their own against the No. 1-ranked team in Class AAAAAA.

Then it all fell apart.

Brookwood scored three goals in the final nine minutes to hand the War Eagles a 3-0 loss in the first round of the Class AAAAAA tournament Tuesday on the road.

South ends its season at 8-11-0.

“Our kids played great,” South head coach Tom Braun said. “They played hard and disciplined. Sam Walker was great in goal, defense was great, every one worked hard. They put the one [goal] in and it kind of let the air out of us.”

The War Eagles entered the game as significant underdogs to the top-ranked Broncos (18-1-0), but South managed to thwart Brookwood’s attack.

“Our kids stayed very disciplined,” Braun said. “They executed the game plan and were very patient. We were able to keep them scoreless for so long. We had some scoring opportunities and unfortunately we couldn’t capitalize.”

Still, Braun said he was proud of the team, which extended the program’s streak of state playoff appearances to four.

“This was a very gritty team,” Braun said. “Our kids always worked hard, had super attitudes. As a staff you can’t ask for more. … They rose to the challenge. Everything we asked them to do they did.

“They have nothing to be ashamed of. We went to the No. 1 team in the state and held them scoreless for 71 minutes. It was a tremendous effort.”