Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Down to three

Panthers slay Parkview and Lady Chiefs advance, while Fayette and McIntosh boys fall

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Some would say it takes a Panther to defeat a Panther, and this week fans will find out if Panthers can also defeat Cougars.

The Starr’s Mill varsity boys and girls soccer teams had the tough task of taking on the top-ranked Parkview soccer teams to advance to the AAAAA state semifinals. They proved they were up to the challenge as the boys won in penalty kicks and the girls shut out the Lady Panthers of Parkview 1-0.

McIntosh’s Lady Chiefs got off to a slow start but beat Chattahoochee 4-1, while the McIntosh boys lost to Kennesaw Mountain 3-2 and Fayette County’s boys lost to Brokwood 4-0.

Starr’s Mill’s boys fell behind 1-0 to Parkview in the first half, but Corey Cross tied the game with seven minutes left to force the game into overtime. After two scoreless overtime periods, the two teams squared off for penalty kicks. C.J. Cooper scored on the sixth penalty kick giving the Panthers a 5-4 lead and keeper Matt Troop made a huge save to give the Panthers a win over the top ranked team in the state.

The win set up a game against Newnan Tuesday night after the paper went to press. Visit www.thecitizennews.com today for the results of that game.

Newnan (10-9-2 overall) lost to Starr’s Mill 2-1 March 23. They have been unbeaten since April 17 and have won 3-1 over Lowndes, 2-0 against Windsor Forest and 2-1 versus Lakeside-DeKalb to make the final four. The Panthers are 15-2-3, ranked third in AAAAA, and haven’t lost since falling to Woodward Academy 3-2 March 4. A win in the semis will pit them against either Kennesaw Mountain or Brookwood Friday. The Panthers lost to Brookwood 1-0 Feb. 21.

In Fayette County’s game Friday, the Tigers fell behind early to Brookwood 2-0. The Broncos added two more goals in the second half for the win. Fayette County finished the season 16-4-1.

“We have a lot to be proud of,” said Coach Ben Thacker. “This was the highest-ranked team we ever had as a program and our senior class was filled with incredible leaders. I’m very proud of this team’s effort. We never quit, even when we were down 4-0.”

Saturday saw the Lady Chiefs sweat a bit, due partially to the heat and partially to a strong challenge from Chattahoochee. Christa Mann started the scoring for McIntosh on an assist from Joni Vickers approximately 10 minutes into the game, but Chattahoochee took the momentum and squeaked one by McIntosh to tie the game eight minutes later. The Lady Chiefs responded by controlling the midfield and stealing back the momentum, but they would not score until the 11:13 mark in the second half when Jesse Lenze scored off of a direct kick after colliding with the Chattahoochee goalie that resulted in the keeper touching the ball with her hands outside of the box. The second goal opened the floodgates and was followed by a goal from Caroline Austin, assisted by Katie Schulz, and a goal from Monica Hogan, assisted by Brittany Schneider.

McIntosh (17-1-1) will now face Milton (13-5), the team that handed them their only loss of the season, tonight at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Chiefs, ranked second in AAAAA, have outscored their opponents in the state playoffs 29-1 and haven’t lost since their game against Milton March 9. Milton has won four games in a row, three of which were in the state playoffs: 10-0 against Evans, 2-1 against eighth-ranked Walton and 4-0 against Glynn Academy. Their last loss was to Pope, 4-0, April 20.

Following McIntosh’s win, many players and fans headed over to Starr’s Mill to see the Lady Panthers take on Parkview. They got a treat. Parkview had several scoring opportunities early and had most of the momentum, but Starr’s Mill fought their way down the field and took some good shots as well. With 11 minutes remaining in the half, sophomore Aubry Ireland took a big shot outside of the 18 and nailed it, giving Starr’s Mill a lead with her second goal of the year. Starr’s Mill maintained their offense in the second half and kept most of the play in the Parkview half of the field, but as time wore on Parkview got more desperate for the equalizer. The final minutes of the half saw a number of shots and chances but goalkeeper Samantha Spradley made lots of great saves, including one sequence where she saved one shot, only to have it pop out forcing her to make two more quick saves. The win preserved Starr’s Mill’s perfect home record and handed Parkview their first loss in 41 games.

Starr’s Mill (16-1-2) will host Newnan’s Lady Cougars tonight at 7:30 p.m. Newnan (16-2-2) is ranked sixth in the state and has won eight games in a row. In those eight wins, Newnan has only iven up one goal. To make the final four, Newnan shut out Tift County 8-0, St. Vincents 7-0 and Brookwood 2-0. Starr’s Mill, ranked fourth in AAAAA, has also shut out all three of their state playoff opponents and has won 10 games in a row. Their one loss was to McIntosh and should Starr’s Mill and McIntosh win, they would face each other in the AAAAA final Saturday.

Stay tuned to www.thecitizennews.com for results from this week’s games.