Set for history
Penalty kicks place Unity Christian in the state title game for the first time.
Penalty kicks place Unity Christian in the state title game for the first time.
It was just last season when the Unity Christian girls’ soccer team won its first state playoff game.
A year later, and the Lady Lions are still making history.
Anchored by a focused defense and the astounding play of keeper Chanceley Book, Unity took Lanier Christian to penalty kicks Tuesday evening before delivering the final blow and winning its semifinal match 2-1 at Grizzard Park.
The hard-fought victory puts Unity Christian in the GICAA Division II-A state championship game Saturday at Creekside Christian Academy in McDonough. It is the first time the team will compete for a state title.
“We started out the game just really thanking the Lord for how he got us here to this point,” Unity’s Hannah Eddins said. “And we have one senior on the team (Jacquelyn Groux), and we talked before that this could be her last game, her last half.”
Eddins put the exclamation point on the match by placing Unity’s fourth penalty kick attempt in the top left corner of the net and past Lanier’s keeper.
It was the third successful try for the Lady Lions and, with Lanier still without a made kick and only two chances left, Unity took the point and the game.
“The first thing I told my girls when we had to go into penalty kicks was that no matter what, I was proud of them,” Unity coach Stephanie Masters said. “I was proud of the way they played this season. I was proud of the way they finished this game.”
Unity (9-1) scored first after Amanda Okubo made a well placed pass to Groux, who put it into the back of the net in the 25th minute.
The hosts enjoyed the 1-0 lead for just a short while before Lanier answered with a goal three minutes later that evolved from a penalty kick near the box.
That was the end of the scoring for the match, with both teams getting opportunities to score after that but coming up empty.
Book, a sophomore, had 11 saves in regulation and a couple more in overtime to keep Lanier pushing harder for offense. She also blocked Lanier’s three penalty kick attempts.
“Chanceley had an outstanding performance,” Masters said. “There wasn’t a shot that they took that wasn’t on frame that she didn’t stop. That never happens.”
After neither team scored in the two five-minute overtime periods, Groux made Unity’s first penalty kick.
Maggie Eddins’ kick was high, but Tori Eddins sent her kick to the top right and in.
The win served as a sort of test for the Lady Lions’ improvement since last season.
It was Lanier that defeated Unity on penalty kicks in the state semifinals
last season. A meeting on March 7 saw Unity fall 3-0 and suffer its only loss of the season so far.