BEATING THE ODDS
Gutsy effort sends Ringgold girls past LFO
The state soccer playoffs begin in a little less than two weeks’ time and there is a very high probability that the Ringgold Lady Tigers will be in the 32-team Class AAA field for the first time since the 2015 season.
And thanks to one of the gutsiest performances in program history, they might just be playing at home when the postseason gets underway.
Forced to play 10 versus 11 for all but the first 30 minutes of Friday night’s match, the Lady Tigers found a way and knocked off Catoosa County rival and Region 6-AAA co-leader LFO after 80 minutes of regulation, 20 minutes of overtime and a penalty kick shootout in Fort Oglethorpe.
“They showed so much heart tonight,” said head coach Ashley Boren. “This was a big game going in. A huge game and the way they played, I’m just so proud of them. We haven’t had to go to penalty kicks all year, so I wasn’t even sure which (players) to pick, but I made a good decision with them and we pulled it out and Scottie, of course, did awesome.”
Scottie, as in sophomore keeper Scottie Parton, had a huge night in goal for the Blue-and-White. Facing enormous pressure from the LFO attack for most of the match, Parton allowed two goals in regulation, but came up with numerous saves, including one from close range in the closing seconds of overtime, to send things to the shootout.
Parton also got a huge assist from her defense, which battled despite being on their heels most of the night.
“Our team just worked hard,” Parton said humbly. “We had to make a lot of stops, but somehow, we pulled it off.”
Following a lightning delay that postponed the start of the match for nearly an hour, Ringgold (7-2 overall, 6-1 region) got on the board first. At the 24:20 mark of the first half, Alyana Custer hit a perfect free kick from 20 yards out, over the LFO wall and into the top left corner of the net. However, less than four minutes later, the Lady Warriors (9-4, 4-1) equalized as Emma Leverrett got her head on a crossing pass from Kaylee Gomez to beat Parton and tie things up.
A red card was shown with 10 minutes left in the half, meaning that the visitors would have to play the rest of the match down a player, but Custer gave her team a huge spark with 5:32 left before halftime. Receiving the ball unguarded in the middle of the field, some 40 yards from goal, Custer delivered another perfect strike that LFO keeper Joanna Matute could not get a hand on and the Lady Tigers were suddenly and shockingly back in the lead.
Ringgold had two more chances to add to the lead before the halftime whistle, but Matute came off her line to make a key stop, while the other shot twisted left of the net.
The Lady Warriors kept the heat on in the second half and controlled the majority of the possession, but Ringgold’s defense did its best to keep from cracking and Parton continued to be a wall by making several saves, including three in the first 20 minutes of the second half where she had to come off her line to cover up the ball in heavy traffic.
However, the constant pressure by the Lady Warriors finally paid off with 17:59 to go. Parton made a diving attempt at a save, but could not completely corral the ball, which trickled into an open space in front of the net. Leverrett was able to rush in and tap home the rebound to knot the match, 2-2.
More shot attempts came in the final minutes of regulation, but none found the net. Parton made two more spectacular saves, including one in the final minute, while two more dangerous chances sailed just inches from goal.
Parton had four more stops in the first 10-minute overtime session and LFO missed wide on a header 90 seconds into the second overtime. The Lady Tigers’ offensive chances were very limited in overtime, but another long free kick by Custer with five minutes to go nearly found its mark. However, Matute was up to the challenge and went up high to knock it down before quickly grabbing the loose ball a split second before the Lady Tigers could pounce.
Another good shot by LFO skirted past the top right-hand corner of the net with four minutes remaining and Parton had to crash through to cover up a ball in the box with 2:30 to go. Her final save in overtime came following a blast from point-blank range inside the penalty area with just 15 seconds left on the clock and players from both sides crumpled to the turf with exhaustion as the whistle blew to end overtime.
The shootout began with Ringgold taking a 2-1 lead as the first three players scored. Parton made a diving save to her left on LFO’s second kick, but Matute was equal to the task and stopped the Lady Tigers’ third shot before taking a PK herself and finding the back of the net to tie it up with two rounds remaining.
Matute followed up with another save, this one on an athletic dive to her right, but the next Lady Warrior kick would hit the crossbar. Ringgold’s fifth and final kick found its mark, but LFO’s final shot went left of its target as the Lady Tigers found the energy to rush the field and celebrate.
“The ball was on our end most of the second half, but (Scottie) had save after save and then in PK’s, she just did awesome,” Boren added “It was a great game all the way around and I’m just
so proud of our team for not giving up. Going into (the second) overtime, we knew we either had to score or just keep them from scoring, since it was going to be tough for us to score down a player. But if we could just hold on and get it to PK’s, that would be fine.”
The outcome added to drama in the 6-AAA standings.
Adairsville (13-1 overall) now sits alone atop the standings at 6-0 going a match with winless Sonoraville on Tuesday of this week. Adairsville still has a huge match at LFO this coming Friday night, a makeup from a postponement on March 25, while the Lady Warriors will have a very busy week with road contests at Rockmart (Tuesday) and at North Murray (Thursday) before the showdown with Adairsville.
Meanwhile, Ringgold is slated to host LaFayette in another make-up match on Tuesday to close out its region schedule. A win for Ringgold could give them the No. 2 seed for state (for the first time since 2013) if LFO were to lose once down the stretch. However, should Ringgold stumble against LaFayette, LFO would still have a chance to claim the region title by winning all three of their remaining matches.
The top two seeds in the region get home field for the first round of the playoffs, while the region champion would be at home for the first two rounds, provided it wins its playoff opener.
Ringgold boys 5, LFO 3
The Tigers picked up a victory in the nightcap as Gage Keener, Liam
Lehmann, Landon Eaker, Joseph Morrison and Hassan Velic all found the net for the Tigers, while Jacob Garnica assisted on two of the goals.
The Warriors got two goals from Stiven Galicia and one from Cesar Gomez, while Galicia and Enis Kerovic recorded assists.
Ringgold closed out its regular season at 5-4 overall and 4-4 in region play, while LFO is now 5-6 overall and 2-3 in 6-AAA, according to MaxPreps.com.
Like their female counterparts, the Warriors will also have three matches next week at Rockmart (Tuesday), at North Murray (Thursday) and at home against Adairsville (Friday). Rockmart is currently 1-6 in region play and Adairsville is 0-6, but North Murray is 6-0 and will have an enormous match at Coahulla Creek (7-0) on Tuesday that could determine the region champion.
LaFayette (6-2) is locked into the third seed for the state playoffs, while LFO is currently in fourth place, one game in the loss column ahead of both Ringgold and Murray County, who both completed region play at 4-4. The Indians own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers by virtue of a 1-0 win earlier this season, but LFO has the tiebreaker on the Indians after a 4-0 victory on March 11.
Three victories next week would give the Warriors the final state playoff berth with a 5-3 region mark, while going 2-1 in their final three matches would create a three-team tie at 4-4 with all three teams having gone 1-1 against the other two.