Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Lady Chiefs win AAAAA state title

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Saturday was a beautiful day for soccer, and over a thousand local soccer fans came out to witness the McIntosh Lady Chiefs and the Starr’s Mill Lady Panthers face off for the AAAAA state soccer championship. McIntosh won the game 1-0 with a goal in the second half for its fifth state championship in girls soccer.

The Lady Chiefs went all the way in 1992 and 1994 when all classifications played for a single title. They repeated in 1995 as the AAAA champion, and tied with Pope in 2000 for the AAAA title.

The Lady Panthers won the AAA state title in 1999 and 2000 and tied with Pope in 2002 as AAAAA champions.

The two teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half. Starr’s Mill had the wind at their back in the first half and had more play in the McIntosh half of the field in the first 10 minutes, but McIntosh started putting more pressure on the Lady Panthers and had numerous scoring opportunities go over the net, out of bounds and into the hands of goalkeeper Cindy Westmoreland.

The second half saw McIntosh have even more scoring opportunities go by the wayside with several shots hitting the post. Starr’s Mill missed a golden opportunity with 15 minutes remaining when a cross in front of the McIntosh net did not connect with anyone. The Lady Chiefs capitalized nine minutes later when Monica Hogan banged in a ball that came back out to her from Jesse Lenze. Samantha Spradley had taken over goaltending duties for Starr’s Mill in the second half, which was the norm for the Lady Panthers all season.

“It was a beautiful goal,” said coach Marcia Clark of the game winner. She also praised the play of everyone on the team. “They all stepped up and played for and with each other. They came together as a team.”

Coach Greg Shifflett was very proud of his team and their performance in the playoffs. “There is nothing to hang their heads about,” said Shifflett. “They put their heart and soul into this game and have proven that they can go toe to toe with the likes of Parkview and McIntosh.”

Starr’s Mill will return a number of players next year, as will McIntosh. However, the two teams will not have to worry about crossing paths in the playoffs, as McIntosh will drop to Class AAAA.

After the game, McIntosh and Starr’s Mill players hugged briefly, but they then went their separate ways as the Lady Chiefs received their state championship trophy, visors marking the occasion and a number of hugs and high-fives from fans, parents, coaches and teammates.