THOMASVILLE — It was a very different day on the Thomas County Central pitch between the girls and boys soccer squads Friday.
The girls dominated at usual, pushing their undefeated record to 10-0 with a 7-1 stomping of Nothside. The boys, on the other hand, had a more dramatic win, snatching a 6-5 win from there jaws of defeat in a game that head coach Tony Voyles called “sloppy.”
For the girls, it was another dominating performance.
The Lady Jackets went up quickly, scoring six unanswered goals in the first 25 minutes. Voyles was happy that he got to give his starters some much needed rest and allow the teams future talent to get some valuable in-game minutes.
“I was able to rest some players that have gotten a lot of minutes of their legs recently and could use a little bit of a break and then get some of the younger players some time on the field to develop them, to get them ready for future years on the team,” Voyles said. “All very very positive.”
Though the squad scored seven goals in the game, when asked who he thought performed exceptionally well, Voyles was quick to praise his defensive line.
“Our defensive line has been unreal this year. They have given up so few goals and so few even opportunities,” Voyles said. “They take care of it further up the field and get us going back in the attack time after time after time.
He’s not exaggerating either.
The group of Celeste Owens, Mackenzie Smith, Paige Parkerson and Amber Griner have been great this year. They have allowed just four goals this season through 10 games and have contributed to seven shut out victories.
The boys had an uncharacteristically tough time with the Eagles. The Yellow Jackets gave up a goal in the first five minutes and headed into half time down 3-1.
“We just did not defend very well through out the game and, of course, that caused us problems,” said Voyles. “It’s not that we weren’t creating opportunities to score, we weren’t taking advantage of our chances and it seemed like every time they got a chance or even a half-chance to score they were putting it in the back of the net.”
The Yellow Jackets did, however, do a remarkable job of bouncing back. Within the first seven minutes of the second half, Central found themselves in the lead 4-3.
The two squads then traded goals and as the final horn sounded, the Eagles and Yellow Jackets were locked in a 5-5 tie. Overtime couldn’t settle the score so the contest moved to penalty kicks.
PK’s are a nerve-wracking experience for any goal keeper, but especially for Central’s sophomore Brandon Baggett, who is filling in for senior goal keeper Efren Garcia who has been out nursing an injury. Baggett stepped up when his team needed him most, however, coming up with two massive saves to push the Jackets past Northside 6-5.