Panthers split region matches to stay in playoff hunt
The Ridgeland Lady Panthers got a penalty kick goal from Madison Doty late in the first half last Tuesday night, but it was not nearly enough as the Region 6-AAAA leaders from Northwest Whitfield handed the Black-andWhite an 11-1 loss at Bowers and Painter Field.
Keeper Alyssa Young made 12 saves in the first half for Ridgeland, while Morgan Crawford had two saves, including one on a penalty kick, in a shortened second half.
The nightcap was more of the same as the No. 4-ranked Bruins stayed unbeaten in the region. Northwest’s lone two losses have come to Cartersville and Dalton, both by 3-2 scores. Dalton is the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
After a scoreless first few opening minutes, Northwest finally broke through with two quick goals and rolled on from there, leading 6-0 at intermission. The match ended 10-0 on the mercy rule with about 18 minutes to play.
Northwest outshot Ridgeland, 16-2.
“We held them for 11 minutes,” Ridgeland head coach Tim Sparks said. “But once they got those first two (goals), it was hard for us to recover. (Northwest) is very well-coached and they have a team full of guys that have great technical ability. They also executed tactically as well.”
Bode Tucker found Angel Ojeda with a perfect pass in the 51st minute on Friday night and the Panthers improved to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in Region 6-AAAA play with a 1-0 home shutout against the Dragons.
Kolston Byrd got the shutout in goal, while Sparks praised the efforts of his backline - Conner Middleton, Jacob Keeton, Oliver Holden and Rubin Livarchuk.
“Christian Crumble played a great game controlling the middle of the pitch,” Sparks added. “Pickens was a quality team that knocked it around really well. They probably had a bit more of possession than we did, especially in the first half. But we played high pressure in second half and caused a bunch of turnovers, (including) one that led to our goal.”
The day’s first game went the way of the visitors from Jasper, who picked up a 4-0 win to drop the Lady Panthers to 1-8 overall and 0-4 in region play.
A bright spot for Ridgeland was Crawford.
The first-year player stopped another penalty kick against the Lady Dragons, making it a perfect 3-for-3 on penalty kick save opportunities in 2017.