McIntosh boys survive scare, beat Baldwin 3-2 - Starr's Mill and Whitewater move on as well

Wed, 05/02/2007 - 8:03pm
By: Michael Boylan

McIntosh forward Derek Farnsworth likely has a lot of goals left to score, but few will be as important as the goal he scored in the final moments of the Chiefs 3-2 win over Baldwin Wednesday night.

McIntosh took a 2-0 lead into halftime after goals from Hughston Taylor and Bilal Duckett, but Baldwin was undaunted. Though McIntosh dominated play in the first half and put a ton of pressure on the Braves defense, the second half seemed to belong to Baldwin. The Braves scored early in the second half to cut the deficit to one and then tied the game with under 10 minutes to play.

The Chiefs did not want to go into overtime against the resurgent Baldwin squad and Farnsworth made sure they didn't have to. The forward seemed to find a higher gear on a breakway with just over a minute to play and he never let the ball leave his control, finishing a shot past the diving Baldwin keeper.

The win kept the Chiefs, ranked first in AAAA and second in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America national poll, alive and moving on the Class AAAA quarterfinals this weekend.

Starr's Mill faced Upson-Lee on the road and won 6-0, while Whitewater played Thomas County Central, away, and won 3-0.

The Panthers got two goals from Gray Phelps and one goal a piece from Chris Capati, Sam Martin, Mike Martin and Ryan Clark. Shane Moroney had three assists in the win and Danny Hojaij had one. The defense led by Hunter Hayes, Nick Fevella, Ryan Clark , Matt OConnor, Chris Long and goalkeepers Pat Bugara and Chris Ward held Upson Lee scoreless.

Whitewater got on the borad early with goals from Robbie Zeider and Ryan Pugh. Pugh also socred the third and final goal for Whitewater while goalkeeper Joradn Cooper preserved the shutout and Zach Taylor and Josh Adair each added assists.

Saturday's match-ups will be McIntosh on the road at St. Pius, Whitewater at home against Marist and Starr's Mill on the road at fifth ranked Habersham Central, Saturday at 3 p.m.

login to post comments