Ringgold girls to host state playoff match for first time since 2013
The Ringgold Lady Tigers had to endure their second consecutive penalty-kick shootout, but earned a very important Region 6-AAA victory at home on Tuesday against the scrappy LaFayette Lady Ramblers.
The game was mostly played between the 18-yard boxes. It nearly ended on a gamewinning goal with four seconds left on the clock, but a header attempt by Haley Emous off a corner kick from Alayna Custer just missed its mark.
After 20 scoreless minutes of overtime, the match went to a shootout where Ringgold won 3-1 to move to 9-2 overall. Custer, Kylee Culpepper and Liana Talley scored in the shootout, while Scottie Parton got the victory in goal.
Ringgold finished the region schedule with a 7-1 record and finished the regular season as the No. 2 seed from Region 6. They will open the Class AAA state tournament on Tuesday of this week with a 6 p.m. home match against White County.
LaFayette boys 4, Morris Innovative 0
The Ramblers welcomed in the Tigers from Dalton last Monday night and sent them back to the Carpet Capital with a loss in a non-region matchup.
Junior Haiden Pickard assisted on the first two goals for the Ramblers. He set up fellow junior Kevin Kremb before aiding freshman Jacob Hamilton’s goal that gave LaFayette a 2-0 lead at halftime. Another freshman, Caden Hinton, would find the net twice for the Ramblers in the second half to cap the scoring, while Hayden Rainwater made nine saves in goal for the Ramblers.
LaFayette also hosted Trion in a pair of matches to end the regular season on Friday. The Ramblers played the Bulldogs to a scoreless tie to end the regular season at 7-4-1. LaFayette will open the playoffs this week at Cherokee Bluff.
Results of the Lady Ramblers’ match was unknown as of press time. It was the final match of the year for LaFayette.
Heritage girls 3, Calhoun 2
The Lady Generals improved to 12-4 overall after a 3-2 victory over a solid Calhoun squad last Tuesday night in Boynton.
Brooke Fairchild, Mady Terry and Molly Cason all found the net for Heritage in the regular-season finale. Heritage, the No. 2 seed from Region 7 for the Class AAAA state playoffs, will host
Arabia Mountain Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the opening round.
Calhoun boys 3, Heritage 2
The Generals put on a tremendous effort against the Class AAAAA Jackets in the nightcap, but came up one goal shy.
William Cortez and Liam Smartt scored goals for Heritage (7-6), who will open the Class AAAA state tournament at Region 6 champion Marist this week.
Meanwhile, the Ridgeland Lady Panthers, the No. 4 seed from Region 7, will also travel to Atlanta to take on traditional state powerhouse Marist, the champion of Region 6, in their Class AAAA opener Thursday at 4 p.m. It will mark Ridgeland’s first appearance in the state playoffs since 1998.