Lady Generals’ run ends at North Oconee
The second-ever trip to the state semifinals for the Heritage Lady Generals did not go the way the Navy-and-red were hoping as top-ranked North Oconee continued its unbeaten season with a 9-0 victory in the Class AAAA Final Four last Monday night in Bogart.
The win put the Lady Titans (17-0-2) into their first state championship match against Marist, who claimed an 8-0 victory over Northwest Whitfield, the other team from Region 7-AAAA to make it to the semifinals.
Meanwhile, a Heritage squad with just one senior on its roster, finished the year with a 15-5 overall mark.
“Tip your hat to them. They were simply better than us,” Heritage coach Kevin Terry said of North Oconee. “They were fast, strong, skilled, and played really well together. But I’m really proud of our girls’ effort and I think the experience was good for our team. We see what we want to be, and we can now set our sights on working towards that for next year.”
Terry, in his first season as a girls’ soccer coach at the school, called the 2021 season “a bit of a learning curve for us all.”
“But I can’t imagine going through it with a better group of girls and coaches (Lauren Peters and Lauren Gray),” he explained. “Through a long season of highs and lows, these girls stayed committed to each other and our core values of unity, integrity, and effort.
“(A record of) 15-5 overall,
second in the region (on a shootout), and advanced to the final four... that a great year for any team, but especially this year in a bit of a reload. One senior, a new coach, a young group overall with a bunch of ninth and 10th graders starting and playing big minutes... I characterize it as a huge success and I can’t wait to see what this
group can do next year.”
Heritage had eight players named All-region in 7-AAAA, four on the first team and four on the second team. Seven of them will be back for next season, the lone exception being senior Allison Craft, a left-side defensive player and a first team 7-AAAA selection.
“As the lone senior, Allison welcomed a captain’s role this year,” Terry added. “In her final year, she embraced a rather new group of girls and accepted
a new coach, which in a lot of ways was a whole different situation.
“She (has been) an anchor for us (on defense). Similar to a left tackle in football, she often has to protect against the most dangerous threats, since most attacking forwards are right-footed. She is tireless and has been counted on time after time. Only losing one senior is nice, but we will miss Allison and her shoes will be tough to fill.”
North Oconee went on to win the Class AAAA state
title on Thursday with a 3-2 win over Marist.
The northwest Georgia area finished with three boys’ state champions. In Class AAA, Coahulla Creek scored twice in overtime to beat Westminster, 3-1. Southeast Whitfield took the Class AAAA title with a 4-0 win over East Hall, while Dalton won the Class AAAAAA title, 3- 2, over Johns Creek.
The Armuchee girls made the finals in Class A Public, but fell to Atlanta Classical Academy, 4-0.