Wednesday, May 1, 2002
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Wednesday, May 1, 2002 |
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Lady Chiefs and Panthers repeat as region champs By MICHAEL
BOYLAN This year's region 4-AAAAA soccer champions are the same as last year's region 4-AAAAA soccer champions. The only difference was in how they got there. The McIntosh Lady Chiefs faced the Starr's Mill Lady Panthers last Friday in the region championship and found themselves down 1-0 early. Very early. A minute and a half in to the game, the Lady Panthers scored off of a corner kick. The kick was set up after Alison Graham took a free kick and almost put it in the upper left hand corner of the net. Starr's Mill kept the lead until Tabitha Lowey scored off on assist from Kari Quinn 15 minutes later. McIntosh scored again three and a half minutes later when freshman Jessie Lenze found the net after a free kick. Play went back and forth and momentum continued to shift. Starr's Mill tied the game with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half off of a head ball with a lot of confusion in front of the net. Six minutes later Lenze would give her team the lead for good scoring after a corner kick. In the second half, the game continued the frenetic pace of the first half. Starr's Mill's goalkeeper --- made outstanding saves and the Lady Panthers tried to equalize the game once more. McIntosh scored the fourth goal of the game 14 minutes into the second half when Emily Myers found the back of the net. Kari Quinn scored six and a half minutes later, putting the game and the region championship out of reach. This was McIntosh's seventh consecutive region championship and second straight over Starr's Mill. "The biggest adjustment we made was putting Lenze on the outside and Quinn up the middle," said McIntosh coach Steven Buckner. "This was the first time in a long time we were down 1-0. We really had to play great ball." The boys game was equally thrilling and even more fast paced and physical then the girls match. Starr's Mill and McIntosh went back and forth for the first 24 minutes of the game before the deadlock was broken. Chris Bowen scored off of a header for the Panthers and then scored five minutes later with a beautiful goal that went to the upper right corner of the net. Though Starr's Mill had a 2-0 lead, McIntosh refused to give up and had a number of scoring opportunities. Panther goalkeeper Anthony Peca made dozens of beautiful saves before Omar Jarun broke through for the Chiefs and scored with 20 minutes remaining in the game. Three minutes later it was Jarun again after a takedown in the box lead to a penalty kick. The score was deadlocked at two goals apiece with 17 minutes remaining and play grew more intense and ferocious. Starr's Mill reclaimed the lead when Jake Upchurch scored the go ahead goal. The Panthers held on to the lead, thanks in part to more spectacular saves from Peca including a stop inside the net just in front of the goal line and a big stop from the defense on the line with just over six minutes to go. Starr's Mill won their second consecutive Region 4-AAAAA championship. It was also their second straight region championship win over the Chiefs. All four teams could meet again in the state playoffs if they all make the finals. Soccer fans couldn't ask for better matchups. In the third-place matches, Newnan's boys lost to Fayette County 1-0 and Newnan's girls defeated Fayette County 1-0. The boys opened the state playoffs yesterday evening. Starr's Mill hosted Benedictine, McIntosh hosted Bradwell Institute and Fayette County played at Windsor Forest. Should they all win, the Panthers will play the winner of Houston County/Lee County, the Chiefs will play the winner of Warner Robins/Ware County and the Tigers will play the winner of Lowndes/Hardaway. The girls begin the state playoffs today. McIntosh hosts Brunswick at 4:15 p.m., Starr's Mill hosts Wayne County and Fayette County plays at St. Vincents at 5 p.m. Should they all win, the Lady Chiefs will play the winner of Houston County and Tift County, the Lady Panthers will play the winner of Hardaway/Ware County and the Lady Tigers will play the winner of Colquitt County and Griffin.
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