Heritage girls advance to state soccer semifinals
Northwest Whitfield’s girls punched their ticket to their first-ever soccer final four with a 4-0 victory over Thomas County Central last week.
However, the Lady Bruins aren’t the only girls’ team from Region 7-AAAA playing in the state semifinals.
For the first time since 2013, and for just the second time in school history, the Heritage Lady Generals are one of the final four teams left in the Class AAAA bracket after a 2-1 win over Islands High School on a swelteringly hot and humid Tuesday on the turf in Savannah.
After a scoreless first half, all three goals of the match came in the final 40 minutes. Freshman Lila Langston knocked home both tallies for the Lady Generals in the 53rd and 65th minutes, while sophomore Brooke Fairchild assisted on both goals.
Heritage, who had the majority of the possession throughout the match, finished with 23 shots attempts, 11 on goal. Sophomore keeper Lindsay Connell came up with six big saves for the Navy-and-red.
The Sharks finally got one past Connell in the final minute, but Heritage was able to run out the clock.
“Our depth finally slowed their defense down in the second half,” Coach Kevin Terry said. “It took a while to find the net, but we punched in a couple. Throughout the match, Islands got a few chances on counter attacks, but our defense held up.”
Heritage (15-4) will face Region 8 champion and topranked North Oconee (17-02) in the state semifinals. The Lady Titans will be making their first-ever state semifinal appearance after a 6-0 win over Region 2 champion Columbus.
That match had been scheduled for Monday of this week. However, due to newspaper deadlines, results were not available as of press time.