Warriors earn playoff victory
The Gordon Central Warriors weren’t just pleased with making it to the playoffs, they wanted to do some damage once they got there. And that’s exactly what they did on Wednesday.
Gordon Central traveled to Lamar County for a Class AA State Tournament first-round matchup and left with a victory as they battled for a 3-2 win.
The Warriors (11-4-1) got a penalty kick from Kenneth Cua with about 15 minutes to play, which proved to be the game winner as the defense held up from there.
“It was a long drive down there, but everyone was just mellow and focused,” said Gordon Central coach Matt Wiley. “Traveling throws things off sometimes, but we went out early on the field before the game and got used to the turf, which was the first time we’ve played on turf this season. And we did our thing in the game. We kept our composure even when their keeper made some unbelievable saves that should’ve put us up bigger. Once they tied the game, we still kept fighting, passed the ball well and we played well together. We did what we had to do to get the win.
“It was fun for sure. I was confident that we could have some success in the playoffs, but once it happened, I was a little speechless. I told the guys that I was just proud of them.”
Gordon Central took the lead early in the game on a goal from Kevin Valencia to make it 1-0.
After the game was still 1-0 at the half, Valentin Avalos gave the Warriors a bigger cushion in the 45th minute with a goal to make it 2-0.
But Lamar County rallied to tie the game over the next 20 minutes as a couple lapses on defense hurt the Warriors. But they stayed focused despite the game being even, and Valencia earned a free kick as he was fouled in the box late in the game. Cua then put the ball in the back of the net for the game winner.
Gordon Central goalkeeper Bogar Aguilar also had a solid game with three saves.
Gordon Central, who was part of Region 7-AA going 4-0 in the first round on Wednesday, will now visit Dublin in the second round.
The Region 3-AA No. 1 seed defeated Brooks County in the first round 1-0.
“Hopefully we can keep this going and play well again in the next round,” said Wiley. “I’m confident in our team, and they are mentally tough.”
Morales had a great cross into the box right onto the foot of her teammate.
The Lady Jackets added their second goal three minutes later when Michelly Huitanda’s corner kick deflected off the goalkeeper and found its way into the net.
Calhoun coach Randy Rice said he continued to motivate his players to keep creating opportunities offensively and they would eventually put a score on the board.
“I kept telling the girls that they were going to fall if we kept hitting, and they did,” said Rice. “We were able to get a lot of opportunities in the first half, and we got a couple to go in to take that 2- 0 lead. We tried to add more, but East Jackson played strong defense, and I wanted to get some other girls into the game as well to get some experience in the playoffs.”
The Lady Jackets defense was solid throughout the game, turning away all of the few chances that East Jackson ( 2- 11) had. They were anchored by goalkeeper Mia Smith, who recorded three saves to get the clean sheet. Halle Rhodes also played a great game as the last line of defense in front of Smith.
“Defensively, we held the game after