By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

The Fayette County High School boys and girls soccer teams played in the Newnan Georgia-Alabama Classic last weekend, facing some of the top programs from the state of Alabama as well as some regional rivals. Going into Thursday's games, both the Tigers and the lady Tigers got wins over Lovejoy. The Lady Tigers outshot Lovejoy 35-2 and won by a score of 11-0, while the boys pulled out a win in the closing moments of their contest, winning 2-1.

The Lady Tigers faced Auburn, Ala. in the first game and won 6-0. They did not start scoring until 20 minutes into the game, but when they did start, it was hard to stop. The first goal was an own goal from a Crystal Rene de Cotret corner kick and Faith Joslin scored a minute later. Rachel Frazier and Dana Teat each added a goal before the half, while Teat and Rene de Cotret each scored once in the second half.

The second game pitted Fayette County against Vestavia Hills, ranked second in the state of Alabama. Vestavia struck first and entered the half ahead of the Lady Tigers, 1-0. Fayette County came out strong in the second half, scoring two goals. Vestavia Hills responded soon afterwards with three goals in six minutes, but the Lady Tigers did not give up. Ashley Kirkwood scored her second goal of the game for the Lady Tigers, spurring the team to tie the game with two minutes remaining. Vestavia Hills was awarded a direct kick with less than a minute left, though, and scored after the ball bounced off of the wall.

The Lady Tigers still had a chance to win the tournament if Griffin could knock off Vestavia Hills. Fayette County faced fifth ranked Fort Payne on Saturday and won 1-0, scoring their only goal off of a Christine Wix direct kick. Griffin eventually lost to Vestavia Hills, 5-0, and Fayette County was awarded second place. The important thing about the Lady Tigers play in the tournament is that it built confidence. Their season does not get any easier, the Lady Tigers hosted the Starr's Mill Lady Panthers last night.

The boys opened up the tournament against Gadsden and won, 5-0. The game started very evenly and much of the first half was played in the midfield. Fayette County came alive in the second half though, getting two goals from Andrew Doggendorf, and a goal a piece from Normer Adams,Phillip McFarlin and J.B. Wood. The last three goals of the game came in the final five minutes.

The Tigers second game was against Vestavia Hills on Friday night and the weather too its toll on the players and the game. Vestavia scored early in the first half off of a long ball and went into the half with a 1-0 lead. At the half, lightning was all around the field and one of the referees left. After the storm had passed, the search for a referee went on for close to 45 minutes. The Tigers could not find a way to score however and lost by the score of 1-0.

The Tigers final game of the tournament saw them play a regional opponent, Newnan. Fayette County scored in the seventh minute of the game when Kenn Adams headed in a pass from Adam Lester. Lester then assisted on a goal to Ryan Terry about 20 minutes after the first goal. The second half began much like the first, as Adams scored off of an assist by Chris Kelly in the sixth minute of the second half. Kelly then added his own goal, scoring off of a free kick. The Tigers finished in second place and traveled to take on Carver last night.

In other weekend scores, the top ranked Starr's Mill Lady Panthers defeated Parkview, then ranked second in AAAA, 4-1 in OT, while Sandy Creek's girls played in the LaGrange Invitational. The Lady Patriots beat Warner Robins, 6-5, in their first game of the tournament, despite trailing 5-0 earlier in the match. The Lady Patriots then tied LaGrange, 1-1, before losing to Columbus in the third game, 3-1. Sandy Creek's boys played Mt. Zion, Jonesboro on Friday night and lost 6-5. The Lady Patriots will travel to Eagle's Landing tonight for a game at 7 p.m.

The eighth ranked McIntosh boys played Roswell on Friday night and defeated them, 5-1. The Chiefs will be off until Friday night when they host Griffin. The third ranked Lady Chiefs are also off until this weekend, when they travle to Alabama to take on Huntsville on Friday night and Grissom on Saturday afternoon.

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