Eagles are headed to 1st ever semifinal with win over Putnam
Coosa’s style of play remains as the team uses a first-half surge to take an early lead.
All season, Coosa took pride in playing aggressive early and letting its athletes up front play their style. That strategy didn’t change when the Eagles reached the playoffs, and now it’s taken the program somewhere it’s never been before.
Coosa scored three goals in the first half and cruised in the second half as the Eagles held on for a 3-1 win against Putnam County in the Class AA quarterfinals in Coosa.
With the win, the program is headed to the semifinals for the first time in history. The Eagles host Thomasville on Tuesday afternoon in Coosa with a chance to make it to the AA state championship game.
“Coosa is making history. We are making history. For the first time ever we are making the semifinals,” Coosa coach Ruben Maldonado said. “I can hardly control myself, I’m so proud of these guys and coach Medlock. This is all for them, this is all for our boys.”
Freshman forward Jorge Lopez finished with two goals, while senior Eric Chavez scored a goal and Daniel Vines had an assist. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Juan Cornejo recorded eight saves including some mammoth stops to maintain the lead late.
Coosa (19-2) never seemed fazed against a Putnam team that had won its previous two playoff matches by a combined score of 15-0. The Eagles’ plan was to strike early, get their opponents out of their game and ride off the initial momentum.
The strategy worked to perfection when Lopez scored his first goal off a through ball from Vines in the 11th minute. Less than 20 minutes later, Chavez scored on a powerful strike from the right corner of the box, giving the goalie no chance.
“We just told ourselves we needed to pressure the ball and play like they were any other team,” Chavez said. “We just went out there and played, at this point we weren’t going to change how we played.”
But the highlight of the day came just before halftime, when Lopez flew down the left side, made moves to get past three defenders and buried the ball past the keeper.
While impressive to the fans, these were the kinds of moves Coosa teammates and coaches have seen all year from the freshman phenom.
“That is a freshman with college and MLS potential,” Maldonado said. “I’m telling you, he’s just amazing. And thank goodness he is only a freshman for us. I can just imagine how much he’s going to grow.”
Putnam County (15-3-2), which had allowed three goals only twice all season, had suddenly allowed three goals in one half. But the team regrouped early in the second half, when its corner kick turned into a Coosa own goal, making it 3-1 with 31 minutes left.
As Putnam got more desperate it began to move up its attack formation, with players like Gio Sanchez and Luis Lopez getting chances. But Cornejo put them all away, whether the shot was right in front or required full extension.
“Juan was just fired up today,” Maldonado said. “He left the team for a period of time this season, but we talked him into coming back and thank God. Because without him, perhaps Coosa would not be here right now.”
Oglethorpe County boys 4, Pepperell 0
Pepperell, the only other Region 7-AA team left in the playoffs, lost to Oglethorpe County 4-0 in its quarterfinal match Saturday in Lexington. The Dragons kept the match scoreless for most of the first half before allowing three goals in the final 15 minutes before halftime.
It ends what has been a triumphant season for Pepperell (13-6-1), which came one win away from beating Coosa for the Region 7-AA title. The Dragons’ playoff wins against Callaway and Fitzgerald were their first in program history.