Lakeview boys cap unbeaten season with NGAC championship
Heritage girls claim NGAC championship, complete perfect season
On a picture-perfect afternoon in which the sun permeated every inch of Heritage Middle School, the Lady Heritage Generals culminated it with an impeccable ending.
The Navy-andRed used a first-half goal by tournament Most Valuable Player Molly Cason and an exceptional performance by keepers Jordyn Leonard and Abby Scott to beat the Lakeview Lady Warriors, 1-0, in a defensive showdown to win the North Georgia Athletic Conference title on their home turf.
Heritage Middle School coach Mike Craft said he was fervent about his team as they were able to win the school’s 10th championship in 10 years.
“I’m very happy,” Craft said. “We had a really strong team last year with nine eighth graders and they moved up to high school. This year we only had three eighth graders, so we knew it was going to be a tougher year for us—to some degree rebuilding. We had some good young players that came in and they worked hard the whole season. We played some tough teams like Dalton and New Hope.”
The title win gives Heritage a school record of 16 victories in a single season. The 16 wins came against zero losses.
After experiencing a similar game—another 1-0 shutout—against county rival Ringgold in the semifinals, the Lady Generals were able to outlast a Lady Warrior
For the first time since 2006 the Lakeview Warriors are undefeated.
The Red-and-White capped the 2017 soccer season with a perfect record of 16-0 overall, but more importantly, a North Georgia Athletic Conference title.
Victory No. 16 came on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over the Heritage Generals at Heritage Middle School on Tuesday.
After a scoreless half, Lakeview got on the board just about six minutes into the second half on a goal by Stiven Galicia. The goal came off an assist from Alan Smajlovic, who attempted a free kick immediately following a foul on the Generals. The ball hit off the top post before dropping straight to the ground, but Galicia, who was right in front of the action, was able to jump and time the bounce of the ball, heading it in for a goal.
Galicia earned tournament Most Valuable Player after the championship victory.
The perfect bounce was a microcosm of how Lakeview’s season. Warriors’ head coach Traye Carpenter said this was a fun team to coach.
“This is one of the most skilled teams
team that walloped Chattanooga Valley, 4-0, in the previous round.
Heritage landed the first blow 22 minutes into the game as Cason was able to take advantage of a penalty kick, a call in which Lakeview was called for a hand-ball inside the box.
Lakeview coach Patrick Johnston said he didn’t agree with the call.
“It was a fluke hand ball in the box; they ended up having a PK,” Johnston said. “But I thought we played them hard. We fought all the way to the end. They never gave up. It would have been very easy for them to give up after the first goal but they didn’t. Heritage just had a little more gas in the tank than we did.”
Leonard and Scott each had a save in net to preserve the championship game shutout, but Lakeview’s Sydney Brown tried her best to disrupt the defensive effort. In the 43rd-minute, she was able to weave her way in the heart of the defense in Heritage territory, firing a shot on goal. Unfortunately for the Lady Warriors, though, the ball hit the top post.
Standout defenders for the Lady Generals included Cason, Emma Walther, Lane Sydney, Addison Needham and Maggie Grayson.
Heritage appeared to be more of the aggressor as they were in Lakeview’s zone throughout the game. The Warriors, however, were the aggressor early on, but weren’t able to score.
The Lady Generals’ offense forced six saves from Lakeview goalkeeper Taylor Bono.
“We attacked in the end; Lakeview attacked in the beginning,” Craft added. “We were able to build up some steam and keep going, but Lakeview played hard all the way to the end. And they did well. They were a tough opponent.”