Warriors rule 7-2A All-Region selections
Unfortunately for the Gordon Central High School soccer teams, the 2022 season it over.
It came to an end for the boys Tuesday night in the GHSA 2A Elite Eight state playoffs with a hard-fought 5-3 loss to 2A defending state champion Pace Academy before a rowdy house at Ratner Stadium.
But the Warriors — both the boys and the girls teams — can take some solace in all the recognition they earned for the seasons they had with a lot of names from both programs on the recentlyreleased 7-2A All-Region squads.
For the boys team, senior forward Charley Garcia, who had two of the team’s goals Tuesday night against Pace, has been selected by the league’s coaches as the 7-2A Player of the Year and head coach Matt Wiley has been named as the Coach of the Year.
Garcia is a four-year starter and is the school’s all-time leading goal scoring, having notched made over 100 shots during his time with the Warriors.
In all, 13 players made the Region’s first-team list with every school but Dade County having a first-team representative.
Gordon Central had eight of its boys selected to the 7-2A elite teams.
Besides Garcia, senior midfielder Brayan Rico, sophomore defender Allen Garcia, and senior defender Anthony Guerrero were the other Warriors named to the first team.
Gordon Central and Coosa, which played in the 2A state semifinals Friday night against Lovett but lost twice to the Warriors this year, had the most first-teamers with four apiece.
Model had three players chosen to the Region firstteam while Fannin County and Pepperell each had one.
Three Gordon Central kickers were voted on to the second team with 10 players earning that status.
Senior goalkeeper Armando Sanchez, junior forward Zeke Parada, and senior midfielder Richard Barrios were the trio of Warriors picked to the second squad.
Besides Gordon Central, Fannin County also had three boys voted onto the second team. Pepperell had two players named while Coosa and Model had one apiece.
Warrior senior midfielder Jefferson Avila earned honorable mention along with four other players in the Region. Fannin County had two of those honorable mentions while Coosa and Model had one each.
For the girls, Gordon Central had five girls named All-Region with one second team player and four more receiving honorable mention.
Junior forward Emily Wyatt represented the Lady Warriors on the second team, which had 11 players on it. Region champion Fannin County had the most secondteamers with three girls on the roster. Coosa and Model had two girls each.
Senior forward Carlee Brock, senior goalkeeper Sophie Gaither, junior Brianna Menchaca, and sophomore midfielder Alexia Cuevas were the four Gordon Central girls to receive honorable mention.
Dade County had three honorable mentions while Coosa had two. Pepperell, Model, and Chattooga each had one.
Fannin County won the
specialty awards with senior Kinsley Sullivan the 2022 Player of the Year and Fannin County’s Nancy Jessen the Region 7-2A Coach of the Year.
A total of 11 girls were voted onto the first team and
the schools were all represented pretty evenly.
Region champ Fannin County and runner-up Model had the most first-teamers with four each. Dade County had two players on the first team and Coosa had one.