Heritage girls, Lakeview boys cap unbeaten soccer seasons with NGAC titles

On a picture-perfect afternoon in which the sun permeated every inch of Heritage Middle School, the Lady Heritage Generals and the Lakeview Warriors culminated perfect seasons by winning North Georgia Athletic Conference championships.

Heritage girls 1, Lakeview 0

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 Lady Warriors in a defensive showdown.

“I’m very happy,” Heritage coach Mike Craft said of his team’s 16-0 record. “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.”

Heritage, landed the blow 22 minutes into the game as Cason was able to take advantage of a penalty kick, a call in which Lakeview was whistled 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.”

Lakeview’s best chance to score came in the 43rd minute as Sydney Brown navigated through the Heritage defense before firing a shot on goal. Unfortunately for the Lady Warriors, the ball only hit the top post.

Lakeview boys 1, Heritage 0

For the first time since 2006, the Warriors finished a season undefeated.

The Red-and-White capped the 2017 season with a perfect 16-0 record and the NGAC title after a hard-fought win over the Generals.

After a scoreless first half, Lakeview got on the board just six minutes into the second half on a goal by Stiven Galicia. The tally came off an assist from Alan Smajlovic, who attempted a free kick immediately following a foul on the Generals.

The initial shot 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 before heading it in for a goal.

“This is one of the most skilled teams that I coached from the beginning to the end of the season—the improvement and just the way we handled the ball,” Lakeview coach Traye Carpenter said. “In the past we had tough teams, but right now I feel like this is one of the most skilled groups I’ve ever had. And they are young. More than half will be back with me next year.”

Heritage keeper Gavin Chandler came up with three saves to

keep the Generals in it.

Generals’ coach Nate Erwin said he was proud of the way his team performed in the championship and during the entirety of the season.

“I thought we did a good job growing as a team as the year went on playing together and moving the ball around,” he said. “A kind of weakness we had all year was finishing close games. That kind of proved to be a little bit of a difference today. We had some opportunities that we didn’t quite take advantage of.”

Heritage finished the season with a record of 10-2.