Soccer action heating up as playoffs draw near
The LaFayette High School soccer teams welcomed in Coahulla Creek for a pair of make-up matches last Monday night and suffered a sweep in the Region 6-AAA contests.
Coahulla Creek girls 2, LaFayette 1
In the opening match, freshman Teara Snider scored with seven minutes to play to bring the Lady Ramblers to within a goal, but they were not able to connect on the equalizer.
Sophomore keeper Laney Rayburn made six saves for LaFayette, who fell to 2-5 in 6-AAA.
Coahulla Creek boys 10, LaFayette 0
The powerful Colts flexed their muscles in the nightcap and have now outscored their region opponents, 70-0, so far this season.
Hayden Rainwater made 15 saves for the Ramblers (6-2 in 6-AAA), who will be the No. 3 seed for the Class AAA state playoffs.
Heritage girls 5, LaFayette 0
In the first match on Wednesday, the visiting Lady Generals held a slim 1-0 nearly 10 minutes into the second half, but added four more goals — three in the final 10 minutes — to
pull away for the non-region victory against their former region rivals.
Molly Cason opened the scoring in the fourth minute of the match and that would be the only goal until Carol Anne Giannamore got one past Lady Rambler keeper Laney Rayburn with 31:30 to play.
Bailey Needham would make it 3-0 with 10:46 to play and Mady Terry connected on a shot on a tough angle at the 8:32 mark. Giannamore capped the win with her second tally, this one with 6:57 left.
Needham and Giannamore also added one assist apiece, while Brooke Fairchild had two assists. Emma Walther and Lindsay Connell each played a half in goal and both
made one save.
Heritage dropped a 3-1 decision at Dalton on Friday to fall to 11-4 overall going into this Tuesday’s home match against Calhoun. The Lady Generals will be the No. 2 seed from Region 7 for the Class AAAA state tournament.
LaFayette (2-7) will make up a 6-AAA match at Ringgold on Tuesday of this week before Wednesday’s season finale at home against Trion.
Heritage boys 4, LaFayette 0
Two teams headed to their respective state tournaments faced off in Wednesday’s finale at Jack King Stadium.
Chipper Grayson found the net just five minutes into the
match, while Stephen Scott scored the final three goals to record a hat trick for the Generals.
Heritage (6-5) will be the No. 4 seed from Region 7 for the Class AAAA state playoffs and will play at the winner of Region 6, either Marist or Druid Hills, in the opening round.
The Generals will also play at home this Tuesday against Calhoun on Tuesday and then back at home against Cartersville on Friday.
LaFayette (6-4) was slated to host Morris Innovative on Monday of this week, but due to newspaper deadlines, results were not available as of press time. The Ramblers’ final regular season match will also be Wednesday versus Trion.
The Ramblers will be the No. 3 seed from Region 6 in the Class AAA state playoffs and will go on the road for the first round to take on the No. 2 seed from Region 7, most likely White County or Cherokee Bluff.
LFO girls 2, Ridgeland 1
On Thursday at Bowers and Painter Field, the Lady Warriors scored with 10:41 remaining to pick up the nonregion win. The match was tied, 1-1, at halftime.
LFO got goals from Emma Leverrett and Sydnee Brown, while Anesa Merdzo and Bailey Sullivan picked up assists. Joanna Matute had 12 saves in goal, while Flor Rodriguez was noted for a goal line clearance that prevented a Ridgeland tally.
LFO boys 4, Ridgeland 0
The Warriors got three goals from Stiven Galicia in the nightcap. Heber Sosa Trejo scored a goal and recorded a pair of assists, while Belmin Kojic and Enis Keserovic each had an assist. Keeper James Thomas-Sales got the shutout in goal.
Ridgeland girls 5, Christian Heritage 0
After a scoreless first half, the Lady Panthers exploded for five goals in the second half on Thursday night to claim a Senior Night win over the Lady Lions.
The first goal came at the 41:03 mark of the match as a shot from long distance by Michelle Thomason was unable to be corralled by the Lady Lions’ keeper. Pressure from Ragan Wimpee and Annabelle Casto ultimately led to an own goal by a Christian Heritage defender.
Thomason would launch another long-range strike just over 12 minutes later and this time Ridgeland needed no outside assistance as the ball sailed over the head of the keeper to give the senior her first career goal.
First career goals would be the theme for the rest of the match. Freshman Betsy Hixon joined that list in the 61st minute, scoring after a long run and assist from Wimpee, and senior Anastasia Burkhart would find the back of the net in the 73rd minute for her first prep tally.
Another senior, Anna Jenkins, would cap the scoring with her first career goal with less than two minutes to play, while Casto, Jenkins, Hixon and senior defender Emalee Harris — playing the final 10 minutes at striker in her final home match — all had shots on goal in the second half.
Senior Riley McBee got the win with four saves in goal.
Ridgeland (6-6-1) will open the Class AAAA state playoffs at Marist.
According to MaxPreps. com, the Panthers and Lions played to a 1-1 draw. No further details were available as of press time. Ridgeland ended its season with a 2-103 mark.